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THE CANOE;
ITS SELECTION, CARE AND USE

THE CANOE

ITS SELECTION CARE AND USE

BY

ROBERT E. PINKERTON

Illustrated with Photographs

HANDBOOKS

Number 48

NEW YORK

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY

MCMXVI

Copyright, 1914, by
OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY

All rights reserved

CONTENTS
Introduction 13

CHAPTER PAGE

I Types of Canoes; Their Con-
struction 17

II Canoe Models; Their Adapta-
bility AND Uses .... 28

III The Paddle 40

IV Paddling in Bow and Stern;

THE Stroke 45

V The Position of the Paddler k,^

VI Paddling a Canoe Alone . . 60

VII Lake Travel 67

VIII River Work 76

IX Precautions; Ballasting the

Canoe 90

X The Portage; Methods of
Carrying Canoes ; Their

Care 97

XI Packing; Various Methods;

Their Adaptability . . .107

494240

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PACE

XII Beds and Bedding . . . .117

XIII Tents for Canoeing . . .126

XIV Cooking Utensils, Cooking and

Foods 133

XV Clothing 144

XVI Making Camp: Advantages of

System 155

ILLUSTRATIONS

An excellent type of the lake model birch

canoe Frontispiece

:} . . 3.

A canvas canoe for use on large windy lakes
A good birch for rapid-filled rivers

Bowman beginning the draw stroke ^

Bowman finishing the draw stroke j ' * ' * *

Position fof throwing the canoe
Indian's position in paddling

Best method of handling a canoe alone
Canadian method of paddling

Yoke method of carrying a canoe 97

One or more packs may be thrown on top of the
first pack 112

Canoe loaded for two weeks' trip, two persons 1

Canoe tent, requiring two poles and seven stakes J

} . . . .

THE CANOE;
ITS SELECTION, CARE AND USE

INTRODUCTION

EXPLORERS have taken canoes into
nearly every quarter of the globe, even
close to the North Pole, and pleasure
seekers in cities have filled park lagoons with
them. Thousands of men and a constantly in-
creasing number of women plan for fifty weeks
in the year on a canoe trip of two weeks, either
down some civilized river or across lakes and
down streams traveled only by the Indians of
the north.

Across the entire continent, from Maine to
Nome, Alaska, is a vast territory in which the
canoe is a work horse, a carrier of burdens, as
essential a part of a man's equipment as a horse
on a farm.

East of the Mississippi river in the United
States and east of Lake Huron in Canada are
many canoe manufacturers who are turning out
innumerable craft annually, supplying Hudson's
Bay posts on Lake Athabasca, In Labrador, and
on the MacKenzie river, the tourist in New

13

14 THE CANOE

Brunswick, the prospector on the Yukon, the ex-
plorer of the geological survey in Ungava, the
gold seeker of the Porcupine, and the bank
clerk in Detriot who spends his evenings about
Belle Isle with his best girl in the be-cushioned
bow.

The recent growth of the use of the canoe
has been as wonderful. In a way, as the little
craft itself. The canoe is rapidly losing that
great distrust in which the public held it. It
is coming into Its own, Bringing with it the
romance of the northland, the lure of the for-
est, the sane, healthy pleasure of Its use.

But, despite its introduction into city parks
and summer resort lakes and streams, the canoe
is essentially a wilderness product, essentially a
wilderness craft. And the wilderness without
the canoe would be a wilderness Indeed, a for-
bidding barrier that would shut off that vast
area which is the north end of our continent
as effectively as though the ice of the pole It-
self were interposed.

From northern Minnesota, straight north
to the Arctic ocean, from the lower Ottawa to
Hudson's Bay, from the St. Lawrence to Un-
gava Bay, and from the upper Athabasca to
the mouth of the MacKenzIe, the canoe has
made possible the penetration of nearly every

INTRODUCTION 15

corner of the wilds, has permitted journeys
which otherwise could be made only in winter
or not at all.

It is in this great district that the use of the
canoe, as essential to the inhabitants as the
horse in the cow country, has been brought to
its highest perfection, has accomplished the
unbelievable. And, though vicious rips have
been run, though great lakes have been crossed
in heavy gales, in this lonely, northern land, it
is in the city park lagoon, in the summer resort
lake and river, that the craft has killed its hun-
dreds, that it has aroused a great suspicion
in the minds of many millions of people.

As ignorance and carelessness have killed
their thousands with the unloaded firearm, so
they have killed their hundreds with the canoe.
The fact that the efficient firearm and the effii-
clent canoe continue to prosper despite public
prejudice is only an indication of their worth.

It Is the purpose of this book to make the
safe use of the canoe more universal, to show
Its possibilities, and to point out its abuses.
Once the art of handling a canoe Is learned, a
man cannot propel a more efficient craft.
Once he has learned to be its master, he has
the key to a new world.

CHAPTER I

TYPES OF CANOES; THEIR CONSTRUCTION

SO far as construction and materials are
concerned, canoes are made In three
types — the wooden, canvas, and birch-
bark. The birch bark will drown the other two,
but It Is slower, more difficult to handle, springs
leaks more easily, and becomes heavy through
soaking water.

The wooden canoe is speedy, but its con-
struction makes the finest lines Impossible, and
fine lines mean more than beauty. They mean
seaworthiness and stability and give to a canoe
that quality of being alive and Intelligent, of
meeting waves like conquerors and not like
sawlogs.

The canvas canoe, when properly made of
the best materials, is the best craft, although
many experienced canoemen prefer the wooden
variety so commonly used in Canada. The
canvas canoe's construction is Identical with
that of the birch bark, after which it was pat-

17

>8 \/\\:\\THE CANOE

te'i/q€d.: ; ; It: tos,' fiowever, the advantage of an
'even, smooth surface, of greater rigidity, of
faster lines. It retains its shape and is the
superior of both the other types in withstand-
ing hard usage. The well built, intelligently
designed canvas canoe is really a wonderful
craft. The best stock, careful workmanship,
and the results of experiments and experiences
have been combined until there is hardly room
for improvement. The canvas covering has
been rendered almost impervious to ordinary
knocks and will often hold water when the
planking and ribs have been crushed. If torn,
it is easily mended.

The birchbark canoe, built by Indians, Is,
some things considered, the most wonderful
craft of the three. For ten dollars I pur-
chased a sixteen-foot canoe that rode six-foot
rollers on Rainy Lake without taking a drop
of water. For three dollars I once bought a
twelve-foot birch that weighed little more
than twenty pounds and never leaked a drop
in an entire summer's travel.

But good canoe makers among the Indians
are becoming scarce, forest fires have made
It difficult to obtain good birch bark, and in
many localities Indians are using the white
man's canoes when they are able to buy them.

TYPES OF CANOES 19

Still, a good birchbark Is to be had, though
much care must be taken In selecting It. As
a rule, It Is better not to order It made, for
the Indian will not do nearly so good a piece
of work. Buy a canoe he has made for him-
self, and be on the ground when you buy It.

Get a canoe of three pieces. That Is, a
craft made with three separate pieces of birch
bark on the bottom. One of two pieces, or
of one, will buckle, or bulge, In the center.
This greatly retards It. See that the bark is
sound and not filled with many tiny holes, that
It has been well sewed with the split and
skinned roots of jackplne or cedar, that the
thwarts and ribs are strong and the planking
well placed In position. The planking will
slip and expose the bark In a poor canoe.

Many birch canoes will warp and twist.
Few are ever perfectly straight. Get one with
the bottom, from bow to stern, as flat as pos-
sible. Indians have a habit of lifting the ends,
thereby making an excellent craft for running
rapids, but one almost impossible for the ordi-
nary canoeman on windy lakes.

Treat your bark canoe with consideration,
though you will be surprised to discover what
hard knocks It will stand without showing a
mark. Be specially careful when landing and

20 THE CANOE

embarking, keeping it away from rocks and
snags. If possible, never get sand in the
canoe. This, working down between bark and
planking, gradually wears thorugh the bark, a
fact which furnishes one of the greatest objec-
tions to this style of canoe.

If you have an opportunity to buy a good
birch from an Indian, do not care to spend
the money a white man's canoe will cost, and
are willing to use it carefully, you will have a
craft that will keep going when wooden or
canvas canoes turn to shore. But you will
travel much more slowly with the same ex-
penditure of energy, and you must always
carry a can of pitch wedged in the bow. Your
craft will be harder to handle, especially in
a wind, and, unless you rig some sort of a low
thwart or a low seat, you must kneel in the
Indian's position when you paddle.

There are several varieties of wooden ca-
noes. In Canada this type has been in con-
stant use for many years. In some districts
any canoe, canvas or wooden, made by a white
man, is called a " Peterborough," the name of
the city in which wooden canoes are exten-
sively built. A woodsman told me, in the
summer of 19 12, of a wonderful new canoe
he had seen a few days before. His enthu-

TYPES OF CANOES 21

slasm led me to expect something marvelous.

" It had a lot of wide ribs and was covered
all over with painted cloth," he said.

The man, a good woodsman, had never
seen or heard of a canvas canoe. In many
parts of the United States the wooden canoe
of the Canadians is equally unknown.

The most common form of wooden canoe
IS the basswood. This is made of thin boards
of basswood placed over hardwood ribs six
inches apart. Strips of hardwood are used to
batten the cracks. Ribs and battens are gen-
erally rounded and three-quarters of an inch
wide.

Another variety is known as the longitud-
inal strip canoe, made of strips of cedar an
inch wide running from end to end and placed
over hardwood ribs similar to those in a bass-
wood craft, but closer together. Still another
is the cedar rib canoe, made entirely of ribs,
with only two or three longitudinal strips be-
sides the gunwales and keel. These ribs, or
arches, are one inch wide and fitted together.
The last two models are wonderfully strong
canoes, though the cedar is not so tough as
the basswood. The cost of the rib canoe is
far above that of other models, wooden or
canvas.

22 THE CANOE

The cedar types are light. The hasswood
is when it is new. Both absorb much water,
the basswood becoming especially heavy on a
portage at the end of a summer which calls for
the expenditure of valuable energy.

One great objection to the basswood canoe
now generally on the market is that it must
be kept in the water. Turned over in the sun
for a few hours, it opens up until it is like a
sieve. Even when in use in a hot sun the
upper seams will open. Dry-kiln lumber is
largely responsible. The earlier product was
much better. I once saw a basswood canoe
that had been in use for twenty-six years.

The construction of the wooden canoe pre-
cludes the possibilities of the best lines. I
have used wooden canoes that were remark-
ably seaworthy, but the usual model is not to
be compared with a birchbark or canvas.
They seem to have a stubborn rigidity that
prevents a compromise with a roller.

All wooden canoes of the Canadian model
are made without seats. A cross bar or
thwart is placed about ten inches above the
bottom. This can be used as a seat, but it is
not comfortable. The intention Is to have
the paddlers kneel, as all paddlers should do,
resting part of the weight on the thwart and

TYPES OF CANOES 28

part on the knees. The question of seats and
kneeling is discussed in another chapter.

The canvas canoe is simply a birchbark
made by a white man, with a white man's
tools, with one substituted material made by
white men, and with the addition of cane
seats. This adherence to the Indian model
permits grace and beauty in the lines, valu-
able, not for the artistic effect, but for the
resulting efficiency.

The canoe is made over a solid mold. Ribs
two to three inches wide and about a quarter
or three-eighths of an inch thick are placed on
the mold. The ribs are of cedar. On top
are placed thin cedar planks, or strips, gen-
erally an eighth of an inch or more thick. The
ribs are fastened to gunwales and hardwood
stems placed at each end. Over all is stretched
tightly a piece of canvas, which is filled with
a preparation and given several coats of paint
and varnish. The result is a craft identical,
in essentials, with the Indian's canoe, only
with the canvas taking the place of the birch
bark.

However, that is only a simple statement
of the construction. Methods, workmanship,
efficiency of materials, finishing, and general
knowledge of the necessities in construction

24 THE CANOE

vary so that canoes of all grades are pro-
duced. There are canvas canoes whose
strength Is almost past belief, and there are
some on the market that could not stand
three hundred miles In northern waters.

But the good canvas canoe, with its solid
construction, keeps Its shape, offers a smooth
surface to the water, is light. Is buoyant, will
stand very hard knocks and Is, all facts con-
sidered, the best all around craft.

But much depends upon the construction.
The use of clear white cedar is essential.
The treatment of the canvas Is most impor-
tant. I have seen a canoe, in the water only
two weeks, show cracks and holes due to the
action of the sun alone.

The compromise which must be effected be-
tween weight and rigidity Is delicate, and some
makers are prone to one extreme or the other.
A sixty-pound canoe, carrying two 150-pound
men and one hundred and fifty or two hun-
dred pounds of duffle. Is put to severe tests in
riding a heavy sea or shooting a twisting, tear-
ing current. I once saw the Inwale of a canoe
snapped in two when two men were riding ter-
rific waves. There was 170 pounds in each
end of the canoe, and nothing in the center.
One can readily see the stress and strain that

TYPES OF CANOES 25

resulted in climbing and pitching over six-foot
waves.

The double or open gunwale construction is
best for several reasons. Manufacturers will
tell you it is stronger. It has the great advan-
tage of permitting a thorough cleaning of the
canoe, something almost impossible with the
closed gunwales. Sand will get into your
craft, and this will work in between the plank-
ing and the canvas, as in a birchbark. In
time, the threads are worn and cut, and leaks
result. With open gunwales the canoe is
cleaned every time it is turned over, while a
little attention will keep it entirely free from
sand.

And right here the canvas canoe has a
great advantage over the wooden canoe, espe-
cially the basswood craft. It can be taken
from the water and turned over in the sun,
and, if it is a good canoe, will not be dam-
aged. It is kept dry and light and can be
carried out of the wind so that a rising sea
cannot touch it.

The planking in a canvas canoe is an im-
portant feature. The edges should be
matched perfectly, and the strips should run
from end to end to give the best rigidity.

The construction of the ribs and the num-

26 THE CANOE

ber used is most important. The greater the
load a canoe is to carry, and the rougher the
water to be traversed, the more rigid must
be the ribbing. Some manufacturers, to meet
the need for an unusually strong canoe,
" double rib " the craft, placing the ribs less
than half an inch apart, or build a canoe with
*^ half ribs," which stretch only across the
bottom between the full ribs. The usual
spacing of the ribs in a well-made canoe is
sufficient for all ordinary usage, although it
is always advisable to use a floor grating.
When ribs are too far apart, or planking is
not continuous from bow to stern, the canoe
will bend, or " hog," in the center.

The ends should be well protected by brass
bang plates which should run well under the
canoe. These should be riveted solidly to the
stems. Manufacturers will furnish an outside
stem of hardwood, which strengthens and pro-
tects, but which, like many other things,
adds weight.

Some manufacturers place keels on canoes
only upon request, as a rule, unless the craft
be a large freight model. There is the nar-
row keel, about an inch deep, which strength-
ens the canoe and makes handling easier on
windy lakes, and the shoe keel, or broad, flat

TYPES OF CANOES 27

protection for the bottom where rocky river
beds are to be passed over. Like the outside
stems, they must be considered in the compro-
mise which one must make in the selection of
his canoe, and their use or absence depends
much on what is to be done with the craft.
The selection of the manufacturer depends
on several things. Some sell canoes at much
lower prices than others. Perhaps the best
general advice is to adapt the price to the use
of the canoe. If you are going to Hudson
Bay, or Lake Mistisinni, or some other place
far from civilization, pay the higher price.
But put the money into canoe and not polished
trimmings. If you are going to paddle on a
small lake or city park lagoon and never leave
home, the cheaper canoe will be sufficient.
Don't go to the lower extreme, however. The
best is none too good where a man's life de-
pends on his canoe. The cheapest doesn't
pay, even where only a sunset paddle will be
the extent of your canoeing.

CHAPTER II

CANOE MODELS; THEIR ADAPTABILITY AND
USES

IN this chapter the word model applies to
the lines, dimensions, and shapes of ca-
noes. There are any number of models,
some manufacturers making a dozen or more,
while others make only one or two. Canoes
are made twelve feet long and twenty-five or
thirty. They are made' twenty-six Inches wide
and forty-six or more.

Some canoes are built solely for speed, as
the Canadian racing canoe. Others are built
for general use but with speed the essential
consideration. Some are built for lightness,
and others for strength. Most manufacturers
try to reach that point where these two quali-
ties meet. Some canoes are wide and " tubby."
Others are narrow to the point of crankiness.
Some are round bottomed, and others per-
fectly flat. Some have straight or out-flaring
sides, and others have a tumble-home, or out-
ward bulge, of one to two inches.

CANOE MODELS 29

Some canoes are built for racing, some for
paddling In a park lagoon, some for carrying
heavy loads, some for running rapids, some
for climbing heavy seas In lake travel. Some
canoes will weigh from a third to a half as
much more than others of the same size.
Some will be stiff and heavy and others so pli-
ant they are weak and dangerous.

All these various models are built with a
purpose or to try out some freak notion of
a designer. I have seen canoes that seem to
have been just made, purpose, thought, or
possible use never seeming to have entered the
head of the builder. But, as a rule, you can
find a canoe built for just what you want a
canoe to do. It is built for it, but It is not
quite the thing, simply because perfection is
Impossible.

This is essentially true in out of door life.
The perfect piece of equipment, tent, cooking
utensil, packing contrivance, or whatever you
wish, has not been made because, of necessity,
everything you take Into the wilderness must
be a compromise. Your canoe must be a com-
promise, and it is only in effecting the best pos-
sible reconciliation of divergent, contradictory
factors that you can approach perfection.

For instance, a canoe suited to running

30 THE CANOE

rapids should have the ends raised, the bot-
tom curved from bow to stern, that the craft
may be twisted on Its center, and that the cur-
rent may not grip the ends. Such a canoe
causes much trouble on windy lakes, for the
same factor that makes It easily turned In the
rapids makes It hard to keep straight in a
wind.

A canoe that has good capacity and stabil-
ity Is slower as the greater beam and blunter
bow and stern cut down the speed. A canoe
that will rise with a roller, and not cut down
through It, Is slower than the long, tapered-
bow affair. The canoe with a flat bottom Is
more stable and more buoyant, but It has not
the speed of .a round^bottomed canoe.

A canoe that Is perfectly rigid, made to
stand great strains and carry heavy loads, Is
heavy on a portage, and an extremely light
canoe, for the opposite reason, will not stand
the strain of a long journey In rough country.
A large freight canoe will ride big seas, carry
a monster load, and Is strong and will stand
a lot of hard usage, but It Is generally too
heavy for one man to carry on a portage.

Thus, your canoe must be selected for the
use to which you intend to put It. Length,
width, depth, construction, height of ends,

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CANOE MODELS 81

shape of bottom, thwarts, seats, and acces-
sories must be considered carefully. Adapt It
as nearly to the use as possible. Balance
weight against strength, speed against capac-
ity and stability, weighing the relative value
of each quality.

For Instance, If two men wish to take a trip
down the Neplsigult or Toblgue rivers, and
Intend to be In the woods two weeks, they
have the following to consider: One hundred
and fifty to two hundred pounds should cover
food and outfit. There are many rapids.
Some they will run and some they will portage
around.

They should have a canoe built for river
work, a slightly rounded bottom and ends
raised higher than the center, on the bottom,
for twisting more quickly and more safely In
fast water. It should be sixteen feet long and
not less than thirty-two Inches wide. It should
have long, slim ends for speed. The depth
should be twelve Inches at least. It Is not
necessary to have much tumble-home. The
weight need not be more than sixty-five
pounds. Neither can It be much less and still
have the craft withstand the wrenching of the
rapids and contact with rocks. A shoe keel
protects the craft. This Is generally half an

32 THE CANOE

Inch thick and three inches wide in the center,
tapering to the ends.

Such a canoe would not do for a trip
through western Ontario, where the travel is
almost entirely on lakes and where there are
few rapids that can be run. If the same two
men intend to spend two weeks in such a
country they will have the following condi-
tions: Many broad lakes, heavy seas, many
portages of varying lengths up to two miles.
These demand a flat-bottomed, straight-keeled
craft thirteen inches deep and thirty-four
inches wide. The ends must not be high
enough to catch much wind. Wide outwales
help greatly in turning combers. A good
tumble home adds stability and also helps
keep out the waves. The weight should be
between sixty-five and seventy pounds. This
will enable them to make a portage in one
trip, one taking a heavy pack and the other a
light pack and the canoe. The straight bot-
tom is essential in heavy winds. The canoe
will not be so apt to turn and bolt. The in-
creased depth is necessary in heavy seas, and
a canoe of that weight and size should be
strong enough to stand the strain of pitching
and tossing.

The width should not all be in the center,
but should be carried well into the ends. The

CANOE MODELS 33

blunter bow will aid in riding waves, although
it will cut down on the speed.

Consider these two men planning to float
down the Ohio, the Mississippi, or some of
their tributaries. The length of the trip makes
little difference, for supplies may be purchased
every day. There are no portages, except
possibly around a dam, and then an express
wagon will take all their outfit in one trip.
They can take all the comforts of home. If
they wish, a sheet Iron stove, a lajrge tent
with dining fly, canned goods and other things
with which a sporting goods house catalog Is
filled.

They can get a seventeen-foot canoe that
weighs eighty pounds, for It will not have to
be carried, and the larger canoe permits taking
a larger outfit. Speed does not count for
much, for the current does most of the work.
There are no rapids to be run. They may,
however, find some ugly seas on these rivers,
especially when the wind Is against a strong
current. For that reason a canoe adapted to
lake work, with the width carried well into the
ends, a tumble- home, and a depth of thirteen
or fourteen Inches Is best.

This is for down-stream work, however. If
the canoe Is to be used both up and down
stream, it is better to get a faster craft with

34 THE CANOE

long tapering ends and keep ashore when the
river gets ugly.

But we will imagine these two men are ex-
perienced canoemen, that they wish to pene-
trate the country west of Hudson Bay, or
some district far north. They have these con-
ditions: Large lakes, rapid-filled rivers, long,
rough portages, the necessity of taking sup-
plies for two or three months.

They want a canoe that will ride seas, and
such a canoe can, if necessary, run rapids.
So they take the straight-keeled craft and
depend upon their skill to handle it in fast
water. They will take a sixteen-foot canoe
thirteen or fourteen inches deep, thirty or
thirty-six inches wide, and of about seventy
pounds weight. They will select a good make
and pay a good price, for a canoe of that
weight must be wonderfully well made to
stand the strain to which they will put it. A
saving in purchase may cost dear in the end.

They will have a canoe with a good tumble-
home and one in which the width and flat
floor are carried well into the bow and stern,
for both these features Increase the carrying
capacity and buoyancy and add to the sea-
worthiness.

With such a craft they can carry three or

CANOE MODELS 35

four hundred pounds of equipment and food
and be able to make good time and live out a
good gale. They will not have too much
canoe to carry on portages and every pound
counts when you are to be gone two or three
months. Their craft should withstand rough
usage and come back sound as when it started,
except for a possible patch or two on the can-
vas. The necessary supplies for making re-
pairs are mentioned elsewhere.

But if these two men decide to stay at home
and paddle about the park lagoon, they do
not have tqi consider capacity, width, weight,
rigidity, high ends, and what-not. They want
a craft that paddles without much effort, that
has quite a bit of speed. They want a canoe
that is graceful, with the high ends Indians
are supposed to build, and that has a bright
coat and shining gunwales and decks. They
get a sixteen-foot canoe thirty-one or thirty-
two inches wide, with a bottom somewhat
rounded and with long, tapering ends. All
these factors go for speed and ease in pad-
dling. It will be eleven inches deep, which
brings down the weight, adds to the beauty
and grace, and is sufficient for the waves they
will encounter. It need not have great carry-
ing capacity, for they will never carry more

36 THE CANOE

than a basket of lunch. And their canoe, un-
suitable for a trip in the wilderness, is as
smart a looking craft, and as sufficient for
their purpose, as any made.

The following are the essential factors to
be remembered in selecting a canoe, it being
assumed that the length is sixteen feet:

In quiet waters the depth need be no more
than eleven inches. For rivers it should be
twelve inches, for lake travel thirteen, and on
a long journey, where the load is to be heavy,
it should be fourteen.

The width may be thirty-one inches for
quiet water and where speed is desired rather
than capacity or stability. As greater capac-
ity and stability are required, the width should
be increased to thirty-five or thirty-six inches
in the center and bow and stern broadened at
the bottom and on the gunwales.

For river work the canoe should have the
ends raised, the bottom bowing upward from
the center, but for lake work the keel should
be straight. For heavy lake work a good
tumble-home is best, and to get a maximum of
seaworthiness and capacity the width should
run well into the ends. A rounder bottom
gives speed at the sacrifice of stability. A
flat bottom gives capacity and stability at the

aj^

CANOE MODELS 37

expense of speed, unless the canoe be heavily
loaded. Then the flat-bottomed craft is
faster.

Have open gunwales that the life of the
canvas be prolonged, unless your canoe Is to
be used at a summer resort for pleasure only,
and you use a carpet, pillows, tennis shoes,
etc. Then the closed gunwale construction Is
much neater.

When a canoeman desires to decrease or
increase the length of his craft the same gen-
eral factors should be considered. One man
and his pack can travel almost anywhere in
a thirteen-foot canoe that should weigh fifty
pounds. The depth, for rough travel, should
be thirteen inches and the width at least thirty-
four. A flat bottom with a good tumble-home
will give better stability and capacity, neces-
sary in so short a craft. Such a canoe can
carry two men, though the length prohibits
dryness in rough water.

The same general factors cover the four-
teen and fifteen-foot canoes. A fifteen-foot
canoe is suitable for two persons in rough
lake travel if the load is not too heavy and
if the beam is at least thirty-five inches and
the depth thirteen inches.

If three persons intend to use one canoe,

38 THE CANOE

the length should be eighteen feet, though I
have made a two weeks' journey on rough
lakes with two other persons, complete equip-
ment, and food in a fifteen-foot river model
canoe. But it is not advisable. Too much
care and exertion in heavy winds are required,
the heavy load makes rapid travel too strenu-
ous, and the craft's buoyancy is reduced to
such an extent that waves easily come over
the bow.

A seventeen-foot canoe, for three persons
and equipment, should be thirty-six or thirty-
seven inches wide and fourteen inches deep.
Every foot you add puts ^vt pounds into a
canoe, and, by carrying the width toward the
ends, you can get the same capacity in a six-
teen-foot canoe as in a seventeen, and so on
up. The greater length, on the other hand,
gives more room for paddlers and duffle.
Such a craft eighteen feet long should be
thirty-five inches wide or more and at least
thirteen inches deep.

Past the eighteen-foot class one enters the
realm of the freight canoe, which may be
most anything you wish. For instance, a
twenty-foot canoe forty-three or forty-four
inches wide and nineteen inches deep will
weigh nearly two hundred pounds, but will

CANOE MODELS 39

have a capacity of about 2,500 pounds. The
selection of such a canoe should depend upon
the amount of freight, the nature of the going,
and the efficiency of the canoemen.

Where there are four in a party, however,
it is better to use two canoes of sixteen-foot
length and suitable to the journey — rivers,
lakes, length of trip, etc. Then, if anything
happens to one party, there is still a canoe.
There is an extra canoe to portage, but a
canoe large enough for four would require
two men in the portaging, so nothing is lost
there. Better time may be made, and each of
the four men may paddle more effectively.

It has not been the intention in this chapter
to convey the idea that a canoe fit for rivers
is unsuitable entirely, or even dangerous, for
lakes, and vice versa. The object has been
to point out the qualities which are essential
for an efficient craft in each department of
work.

CHAPTER III

THE PADDLE

THE proper paddle Is essential for accu-
rate, easy, and strong propulsion of a
canoe. Though a most Important fea-
ture in canoeing, comparatively little consid-
eration Is given to the selection of a paddle,
even by experienced canoemen.

Paddles are made of spruce, cedar, maple,
ash, and pine. The paddle most generally
furnished by canoe manufacturers Is made of
spruce or maple. Cedar, ash, and pine paddles
are generally those made by Indians for their
own use.

The canoeing paddle Is a single-bladed
affair, although the double-bladed arrange-
ment, usually eight and one-half to ten feet
long. Is sometimes used. The most efficient
work Is done with the single-bladed paddle,
and its use is practically universal.
Y~^ The first consideration in the selection of
a paddle Is the length. The accepted rule is
that the paddle should be as long as the user
-- 40

THE PADDLE 41

iis tall. This is true If paddling Is done from
a seat. In paddling from the knees, the pad-
dle may be three Inches shorter, though the
full length Is better. The rule does not apply-
to bow paddlers. In that position, especially
if paddling Is done from the knees, the Imple-
ment should be three inches shorter than the
height of the paddler. A bow paddler can
work with a paddle a foot shorter than he^
is tall, but the stern man has difficulty if
/ the paddle is six inches shorter than his
(^eight.

Two woods, spruce and maple, are chiefly
used. Paddles made of spruce are thick, strong,
and light. They are also very unyielding.
Paddles of maple are heavy, strong, and with
a certain amount of spring. The spruce pad-
dle wears and frays quickly if used In rapids,
for breaking Ice In the fall, or If used for pol-
ing in shallow water. The ragged edge must
be trimmed often, an operation which contin-
ually reduces the size of the blade. The
spruce paddle, also because of its thickness
and softness, does not enter or leave the water
silently or freely.
[ ^The best paddle for all-round use is that
Lrnade of maple. There is a tendency on the
part of manufacturers, however, to produce a

42 THE CANOE

paddle too thick and heavy. Such paddles
have all the deficiencies of the spruce paddle,
excepting wear, without the advantage of
being light, and they do not have sufficient
spring.

The maple paddle will stand much more
abuse, especially when used as a pole or In
rapids, and the strength of the wood permits
a thin blade that enters and leaves the water
cleanly. Because of the heaviness of the ma-
terial, the maple paddle should be made from
the finest straight-grained wood, that the
lightest, thinnest implement consistent with
strength may be possible. The usual paddle
does not come up to such a standard.

For long cruises in the wilderness the maple
paddle is the superior. The spruce paddle, in
fact, because of its stiffness, is entitled to a
place only in a racing canoe.

The experienced canoeist always tests the
" spring " of a paddle the moment he picks It
up. For racing, the stiff, unyielding blade Is
desirable, but for the grind of an all-day
journey, a paddle that " gives " softens the
shock of quick, hard strokes. The advantage
of a " springy " paddle is also felt in the re-
covery. If the paddle Is given a final snap
at the end of a stroke, the spring of the blade

THE PADDLE 43

win shoot it forward for the next stroke with
little effort on the part of the paddler.

Paddles are made with blades of several
shapes, the design varying with the district.
The size of the blade is of more importance.
Too large a blade makes the work too heavy;
too small a blade results in wasted energy. A
large blade is held almost stationary in the
water, and the shock and strain on arms and
shoulders are too severe. For the opposite
reason, a small blade does not remain station-
ary in the water and does not afford a suffi-
cient purchase for efficient propulsion or han-
dling.

The size of the blade, of course, must de-
pend upon the size and strength of the pad-
dler. For the usual canoeist a blade five and
one-half inches wide and two feet eight or
ten inches long is sufficient.

Manufactured paddles invariably are made
with a knob or grip at the end of the shaft
for the upper hand. Many Indians make pad-
dles with straight, tapering shafts. While
their mode of paddling makes the straight
shaft preferable, there Is still a question as
to the grip being essential to a white man. In
any event, he can often ease strained muscles
by grasping the shaft below the grip, the

44 THE CANOE

thumb side of the hand being nearer the blade
and the back oF the hand toward the paddler.

Paddles made by canoe manufacturers in-
variably are varnished. While this adds to
the life of the paddle, it is hard on the hands.
If one has a varnished paddle it is better to
scrape the varnish from the shaft at the points
where it is grasped. The natural wood will
not blister so badly. An oiled paddle absorbs
water after a time and becomes heavier. This
can be avoided if the application of oil is re-
newed occasionally.

Any paddle, varnished or oiled, should not
be left in the sun, especially after it has been
long in the water. It will check, or split.
Paddles should be watched and the tips
trimmed when they become ragged.

An emergency paddle should always be
carried. On a long trip it is essential and
should be placed always within .erasy reach of
the stern paddler. Then, in case of accident,
either in rips or a heavy sea, he need not miss
a stroke. Even on a sunset paddle, an emer-
gency blade will come in handy should the one
in use be dropped or broken.

CHAPTER IV

PADDLING IN BOW AND STERN; THE STROKE

PADDLING a canoe is like any other
wilderness activity. It is a matter of
practice and experience, of instinctive
and unconscious movement. It Is as difficult
to teach as horseback riding or skating.

Primarily, It is the action of thrusting a
paddle forward, catching the water and pull-
ing the canoe up to and past It. Two begin-
ners In a canoe at once paddle on opposite
sides because they find they work against each
other. They are satisfied with this fact and
continue to waste energy, each forcing the
canoe ahead, but also diagonally across the
course toward which the other's efforts tend.
The paddler In the stern finds that he more
than overcomes the turning tendency of the
other and loses still more time and strength
trailing his paddle to hold the canoe straight.

Gradually both bowman and stern paddler
acquire the belief that the stern man must do

45

46 THE CANOE

all the steering, that he may take time from
forcing the canoe forward to do so, and that
the bowman must only paddle always with the
same stroke and with as much energy as his
temperament or inclination decrees.

Both become accustomed to the rising and
falling of the canoe in small waves. As they
venture into large waves each unconsciously
balances the craft as it passes over a crest.
They still paddle as when they began, al-
though accustomed muscles and practice have
made their strokes more regular and stronger.

And these two paddlers will go through their
canoeing days with no greater knowledge un-
less much experience in rough waters teaches
the necessity of many tricks with the paddle
and brings those instinctive, unconscious
movements which mark the experienced
canoeman.

To begin with the bowman. The first and
general belief that his only duty is to sit in
front and paddle should be dispelled. First,
he must set a steady^ regular stroke that never
varies in inclination of the paddle or in the
strength applied. His stroke must be machine
like. He should not throw his paddle forward
and sweep It back in the most natural way.
This swings the bow in the opposite direction.

THE STROKE 47

Practice, study, and experience will teach him
that, by starting his paddle farther away from
the bow and bringing it back in a nearly straight
line to his side, he will devote practically all
the energy expended to forcing the canoe
straight ahead. He will see that his former
stroke, starting closer to the bow and sweeping
back in an outward arc, has always forced the
bow in the opposite direction. This, in addi-
tion to his own diverted energy, calls for
wasted effort on the part of the stern paddler
in swinging the canoe back or in holding it
against the oblique course.

The foregoing applies to straight paddling
on a lake without a heavy sea. Near shore,
where there are rocks, snags, or logs, either
above or below the surface, in rivers where
swift currents twist, or in small streams where
sharp bends are to be made, the bowman be-
comes equally responsible with the stern man
in steering. Many times he must assume all
the responsibility. It is then that the bow-
man, to be a good bowman, must have the
ability to "draw" and to "throw" a canoe..
All this can be done from the side on which
he is paddling and generally without a cessa-
tion of his forward propelling efforts. Few
bowmen realize the possibilities of their posi-

48 THE CANOE

tion, however. Even the man considered
skilled at the summer resort or park knows
little or nothing of what a bowman should do.
It Is In the wilderness, where constant paddling
and meeting all sorts of conditions are the
rule, that the efficient bowman Is developed.

Let the bowman first understand that he is
as Important to the speed an4^fe passage of
the canoe as the stern paddler. Let him un-
derstand that his strength and skill are as es-
sential In turning or keeping the course as the
other's. Let him understand that his Is the
sole duty of setting a regular, efficent stroke,
that his Is the chief duty of watching for rocks
and snags beneath the surface, that his Is the
duty of passing back information as to the
course which the stern paddler cannot obtain
because of his position. In short, let him un-
derstand that he must be more than a machine
or working passenger.

Once the bowman has learned the most ef-
fective way of propelling the canoe straight
ahead, without obliquely tending efforts, he can
take up the subject of his own duties and pos-
sibilities in steering. To " draw " the canoe, he
merely reaches far out to the side and pulls. By
pulling toward himself at an angle of forty-five
degrees to the canoe he not only turns the

Bowman beginning the draw stroke.

Bowman finishing the draw stroke. Note by the wake how quickh-
the canoe has been turned with only slight loss of momentum.

; e •■ J ,. c c (, c t t

THE STROKE 49

canoe In the desired direction, but he also
maintains the forward motion. The angle at
which he pulls must be adapted to the quick-
ness of the turn to be made. If an unusually
sharp bend is to be negotiated, or the canoe
turned about quickly, the propelling force
should come entirely from the stern while the
bowman pulls the bow around. This Is the
opposite of the generally conceived idea, but
it Is the most effective. The bowman, to do
this, can reach out at right angles and pull
straight toward himself, or he can, more ef-
fectively, hold his paddle In the water, turn
the forward edge of the blade outward and
lean heavily upon the shaft. If the canoe has
little or no momentum, he may pull the bow
around quickly by keeping his paddle in the
water, leaning heavily upon It and working It
forward and back, slightly turning the blade
so that the leading edge is always away from
the canoe.

Proficiency In these strokes Is not easy to ac-
quire, but practice, study, and experience will
soon open a bowman's eyes to the possibilities
of his position in the canoe and enable him and
his companion to turn sudden river bends with-
out that disheartening loss of momentum.

All this has applied, however, only to turn-

50 THE CANOE

ing the canoe toward the side on which the
bowman is paddling. To turn in the opposite
direction, the bowman must change sides or
be proficient in " throwing " the canoe, the
most difficult thing he has to learn. In many
instances there is not time to change the pad-
dle from one side of the canoe to the other
when a sub-surface rock shows dead ahead,
and even in a twisting stream it is bothersome.
But to throw a canoe requires much practice
and a strong wrist. Except for my own
" bowman," I have known only one paddler
who could do it efficiently, although there are
undoubtedly many others.

" Throwing " the canoe is based on the
principle above mentioned that there is less loss
of momentum in making short turns if the
stern paddler furnishes the motive power.
The bowman becomes the steersman. His
paddle is held perpendicularly, the blade in the
water and its forward edge straight ahead.
The lower hand must hold the paddle rigidly,
while the upper hand turns the blade as though
it were a rudder. This should be done slowly
and cautiously. A quick turn permits the
water to wrench the paddle around so that the
flat blade stops the canoe. To turn it even
slightly results in a wrench that tests the lower

THE STROKE 51

wrist and the grip of the upper hand. But,
If the paddle, which really becomes a rudder.
Is held firmly, the bow Is lifted and quickly
shot over to the opposite side and the rock
evaded or the turn negotiated, the stern pad-
dler, during the operation, having continued
to force the canoe forward, helping to turn,
of course, as he can.

This position of the paddle Is a good one to
maintain when approaching a shore. By a
quick twist either way, the bowman can direct
the canoe to a safe landing with the utmost
delicacy. Caution is necessary, however. In
"throwing'' a canoe. If the momentum be
great, the paddle may be wrenched under the
canoe and the craft capsized.

Before the bowman has acquired this knowl-
edge and perfected himself In these strokes,
the stern paddler has become proficient. In
efficient paddling the stern man has much less
to learn, although, in the usual canoeing party,
he Is the most skilled. But, if he has a less
number of strokes and tricks In which to per-
fect himself, he still has many other things to
study. The first will be the usual straight-
ahead stroke. At first he trails his paddle, us-
ing it as a rudder at the end of each stroke,
to keep the canoe straight. Even with an ef-

52 THE CANOE

ficient bowman, his own misdirected efforts
tend to a constant deviation from the course.
Gradually he learns that, by ending his stroke
with a slightly outward shove, and by twist-
ing his paddle so that the Inner edge of the
blade leads the other, he accomplishes the
same result without the loss of time or wasted
effort.

In time, the slight variations of this stroke
necessary to conditions that change constantly,
as on a windy lake, become instinctive and au-
tomatic, and he may paddle In a straight line
without close attention to the task.

As the bowman must assume much of the
steering responsibility in a twisting river, the
stern paddler assumes it all in open water
travel. With a bowman propelling a canoe
as he should, the stern man reaches the stage
where he performs his task unconsciously.
'^ "'The usual stroke of the amateur canoeist
is a long, slow pull with a slow, sweeping re-
covery. In the north woods, where the canoe
is best understood, this stroke is never seen.
The stroke is shorter, the recovery like light-
ning, and nearly two strokes are taken to the
amateur's one.

A day's journey will demonstrate the superi-
ority of the woodsman's methods. His quick'

THE STROKE 53

recovery almost eliminates that loss of momen-
tum which Is so hard to overcome and which
Is a continual drag on the energy of the slow-
stroked paddler. The canoe maintains its
headway, and greater results are accomplished
for the energy expended.

The woodsman devotes his strength to the
first of the stroke. The power diminishes
rapidly when the paddle reaches his side, and
the stroke is terminated quickly after it has
passed. To continue the stroke as far back
as one can reach necessitates a sharp inclina-
tion of the paddle. Any force expended upon
the paddle when it is so Inclined serves to pull
the paddle up through the water more than to
push it backward. The result on the canoe
is to force or pull down the stern rather than
to add to the forward motion. Not only is
energy diverted from propulsion, but the up-
ward lift on the paddle forces the stern more
deeply into the water, thereby causing a
greater drag on the canoe.

The quick, short stroke has another advan-
tage which saves time and energy. With the
proper paddle, the spring of the blade itself Is
sufficient to shoot the paddle forward for the
next stroke with but little effort on the part of
the paddler. To do this, the lower hand

54 THE CANOE

should be rigid at the end of the stroke, and
there should be a slight, quick addition of
power just before the paddle leaves the water.

The university oarsman, with his long sweep
and sliding seat, takes from thirty to forty-
two strokes to the minute. The usual racing
stroke is about thirty-six. Loss of momentum
is one of the things most carefully guarded
against. The canoeist, even though he be
plodding along hour after hour instead of rac-
ing, can benefit by the same principle. It is
for this reason that the woodsman takes nearly
twice as many strokes as the park lagoon pad-
dler.

The usual slow paddler takes twenty-five to
twenty-eight strokes to the minute. The
woodsman, with his quick recovery and shorter
stroke, takes forty-four to forty-seven. He
travels faster with less expenditure of energy.
In repeated trials I have found that the quick,
short stroke is far less tiring in addition to
accomphshing greater results.

CHAPTER V

THE POSITION OF THE PADDLER

BEFORE going farther with the subject
of paddling, the question of seats, or
their absence, should be considered.
The cane seat, built In practically all canoes
made in the United States, is strictly a white
man's addition to the craft. Undoubtedly It
was called for by the infrequent use of the
canoe and consequent inability or dislike of the
canoeist to assume the position of the original
paddler, the American Indian. To-day the
use of the cane seat Is so common in the United
States that few realize the existence of another
method.

The first canoeman, the Indian, did not put
a seat in his canoe because he knew it lessened
his paddling power and decreased the stability
of his craft. The Canadian, who has used the
canoe far more than residents of the United
States, did not place a seat in his canoe, nor
did he adhere to the Indian method of sitting

55

56 THE CANOE

on the inner sides of his feet. He effected a
compromise by placing a broad thwart aboutf
ten inches above the bottom and kneeling, with!
his hips resting on the thwart.

For the most effective paddling, for insured
steadiness of the canoe, for better control over
the craft, and for greater safety in rough
water, either lake storms or rapids, the kneel-
ing position is the best.

The reasons are obvious, if the subject is
given close study. Stability becomes greater
the lower the load in the canoe and the less
the weight on the gunwales. To abandon the
seat, which is fastened on the bottom, mani-
festly tends to increase stability. To assume
the Indian's position, which brings the hips to
within two or three inches of the bottom, af-
fords even greater stability, for all the load Is
on the bottom, the weight is as low. as possible,
and the swinging lever of the body is so greatly
shortened that any swaying motion has less
effect.

For all except ordinary conditions, the Cana-
dian's position Is sufficient, so far as stability
is concerned. In extremely nasty going It
may be necessary for the paddler to abandon
his thwart and gtt lower, in the Indian's posi-
tion. Such necessity Is very rare, however.

POSITION OF THE PADDLEB 57

For travel In quiet waters or on calm lakes,
it may be argued that the cane seat is permis-
sible. It is, so far as stability is concerned, but
it does not permit the most effective propul-
sion of the canoe. The university oarsman
uses his legs and body far more than his arms
in driving the shell. The man who rows from
a stationary seat does not depend entirely upon
his arms, but has his legs braced and uses their
strength and that of his back. But the pad-
dler, sitting erect on a seat, cannot use any
muscles except those of his arms and shoul-
ders. He exerts a strain on those of his back
and hips, but that strain is necessary to re-
tain a firm contact with the canoe and does not
serve to aid propulsion.

The knee paddler, by falling forward onto
his paddle at the beginning of his stroke, is
permitted to use his back and thigh muscles
in propulsion, and practically all exertion is
directly applied to driving his craft. He either
can attain a greater speed for the same expen-
diture of energy as the seat paddler, or he can
maintain the same speed with less exertion.

There are two additional advantages in knee
paddling. The man on a seat sits on his
canoe, clings to it. The knee paddler wedges
his knees against the side, braces against the

58 THE CANOE

thwart and becomes a part of his craft, just
as the cowpuncher becomes a part of his horse.
He has his canoe under better control in bal-
ancing, propelling, and handling. Further, in
a breeze, he offers less of his body to the wind
and can more easily forge ahead. This last
is an important factor in an all-day struggle
against a head wind.

There is only one real objection to paddling
from the knees, and that Is the consequent
discomfort to the beginner. He cannot re-
main in that position long at a time. But it
comes with practice and can be worked into
gradually. The man physically fit and hard-
ened soon grows accustomed to the position.
The city man who spends his evenings on a
lake or a few weeks at a summer resort or In
the wilderness will have a more difficult time
of it. But it Is worth enduring a little pain
to acquire the knack of knee paddling. The
compensation is more than will be expected,
and some day, on a gale-swept stretch of
water. It may mean the paddler's life or that
of a companion.

The best way to learn Is to start the first
day of a trip. When Impeded circulation and
cramps make It painful, get back Into the seat,
or sit on the thwart if there are no seats. Rest

The best method of handling a canoe alone, whether the craft be
light or loaded. More power may be applied, and a light canoe
will run better, if the craft is tipped far to one side.

The Canadian method of paddling, a compromise between the
Indian's position and the American's cane seat. The paddlers
kneel on the bottom, resting the hips on the broad thwarts set
below the gunwales.

» J^ c c . c

POSITION OF THE PADDLER 59

a short time, and then try the knees again.
In a few days you will be doing all your pad-
dling from the knees and be glad that you are
able to do so.

Manufacturers of the best canoes will build
canvas craft with the Canadian's thwart in-
stead of the cane seat without extra charge.

CHAPTER VI

PADDLING A CANOE ALONE

T,WO men in a canoe learn to paddle with
certain strokes. When there are three
or four there Is practically no differ-
ence. There are few, except where men are
accustomed to traveling much alone, who can,
single handed, properly handle a canoe under
all sorts of conditions.

The common method of handling a canoe
alone Is to turn the craft around, using the bow
for the stern, and sit on the bow seat or kneel
before the bow thwart. If there are no seats.
The object Is to bring the paddler's weight
nearer the center of the canoe and keep more
of the craft In the water that stability may be
Increased. With a load, the lone canoeman
generally places it far forward and uses the
stern seat, or thwart, in the usual way because
he finds he has difficulty In handling the canoe
except when close to the rear end. Many
60

PADDLING A CANOE ALONE 61

place a weight In the bow to hold it down and
paddle from the stern seat.

Under favorable conditions — running down
stream In good water, on a calm lake or with
a breeze straight behind — such methods result
in easy handling. Running rapids singly, on
windy lakes with the wind ahead or on the
beam or quarter, or crossing whirling, twisting
currents or whirlpools, such a position in a
canoe is impossible for adequate handling. A
man may make some progress, but the energy
expended Is altogether out of proportion to
that necessary, while in an -extremely heavy
wind any progress is impossible.

The correct manner In which to paddle a
canoe alone, either with or without a load. Is
from the center. This Is the method employed
by the Indians, and It has been adopted by the
most efficient white canoemen, those who live
In the north country.

With the canoeman in the center, or a few
Inches aft, the canoe rides on practically an
even keel. It draws less water and travels )
faster. There Is no drag at the stern as is the
case when the bow is riding high out of the
water. Greater speed Is possible.

But the great advantage of paddling from
the center lies In the greater control the canoe-

62 THE CANOE

man has over his craft. Sitting In the stern, or
even using the bow seat and turning the canoe
around, the paddler Is still far from the for-
ward end. A wind or current may grasp the
bow and whirl him about readily. The long
stretch of canoe without a paddle acts as a
"large lever, and In a bad wind human strength
and skill are powerless to keep the craft
headed in the direction desired. If the lone
paddler sits in the stern of a light canoe, he
not only Is powerless In a wind, but the greatly
decreased stability of the craft, and the large
amount of the canoe out of the water and of-
fered to the wind, make his position danger-
ous. When he paddles from the bow seat he
does not eliminate the trouble, but only dimin-
ishes it.

Paddling from the center, the canoeman has
his craft under as nearly perfect control as
is possible. Wind or currents have an equal
effect on bow and stern, or nearly so, and, be-
cause of his position, the paddler can pull,
push or hold either bow or stern more nearly
where he wants them. In such a position he
can hold his canoe straight Into a bad wind,
while he also may quarter Into it or quarter
away from It. In fact, it is the only position
in a canoe which permits travel in a gale.

PADDLING A CANOE ALONE 63

There is an added advantage in the middle
position in that it affords a light bow and stern
which, in turn, mean a dry canoe even in a
heavy sea. The canoe rises and falls instantly
with each wave and is not so stiff that it an-
tagonizes a comber and takes splash or spray
over the gunwales. The man who paddles
alone from the stern, with his load far for-
ward, lacks this advantage and takes water,
which is both uncomfortable and dangerous.

In carrying a load in a canoe, paddling from
the stern is as easy and equally advantageous
if running before a light or even stiff wind, or
if paddling on calm waters. With a stiff
breeze in any other direction, however, the
load should be placed both before and behind
the paddler in such a manner as to permit a
practically even keel. In order to gain the ad-
vantage of a light bow and stern for heavy
seas, the load should be placed as near the
paddler as possible.

Paddling from the center is a trick in itself
for the canoeman, and, no matter what his
skill in bow or stern with another paddler, he
will have difficulty in mastering the center
stroke. A little experimenting, a study of
cause and effect, and he will be better fitted to
begin practicing. Once the stroke is acquired.

64 THE CANOE

It becomes as automatic and unconscious as
that in bow or stern.

The best position for the center stroke Is to
kneel. In nearly all Canadian canoes the cen-
ter thwart Is placed ten or twelve Inches aft
of the center. The lone canoeman kneels In
front of this thwart, resting his hips upon It.
His weight is then a few Inches aft of the cen-
ter. The kneeling position brings the canoeist
lower, and he must be nearer the water than
when paddling In bow or stern.

The first stroke the beginner will take in
such a position, and the most natural stroke,
will be to start the blade near the canoe and
sweep it back and away from him In an arc,
the stroke ending, as It began, with the paddle
against the canoe. Instantly the canoe will
turn. Four such strokes will turn it completely
around. So the beginner starts his stroke In
the same manner, carries it through In the same
way, and ends it by trailing his paddle and
pulling the canoe back Into and past the line
of travel. This results In a course similar to
that of a snake In motion, with the canoe turn-
ing first far to one side and then far to the
other side of the line of travel. That means
a great waste of energy and loss of momen-
tum.

PADDLING A CANOE ALONE Q5

To paddle correctly from the center, and to
keep the canoe traveling in a straight line, it
is necessary to start the stroke, not close to
the canoe, as would be natural, but out from
it. Half way through, the stroke is close to
the gunwale and moving straight back. Im-
mediately after it has passed the paddler, it is
turned outward, finishing slightly away from
the canoe. The result is that the bow, at the
beginning of the stroke, instead of being turned
away from the paddle, is held straight, and the
stern, at the end of the stroke, instead of be-
ing pulled toward the paddle, is kept in line.

The last of this stroke is uncomfortable and
tiring. The most efficient and easy stroke
starts away from the canoe, moves straight to-
ward the gunwale at the paddler's side and
then continues straight back along the canoe.
However, as the paddle passes the canoeman,
the blade is turned so that the inner edge leads
the outer edge. The inclination of the paddle
increases, until, as the paddle is taken from the
water at the end of the stroke, the blade is at
an angle of forty-five degrees to the canoe.

Such a stroke results in the canoe traveling
straight ahead with little or no deviation from
the course if there is no wind. In a heavy
sea, of course, it is varied to meet conditions.

66 THE CANOE

Much practice is necessary to attain perfection
in paddling from the center, and few canoe-
men will take the trouble to learn it unless
compelled to do much traveling alone on windy
lakes. Once the stroke has been perfected,
however, the paddler will prefer it to any
other.

It is advisable for the beginner to kneel di-
rectly over the keel until he has begun to mas-
ter his stroke. Once he is part of his canoe,
he can begin to move out toward the gunwale.
When he is a skilled center paddler his side
will be against the gunwale, and his canoe will
be tipping at a seemingly dangerous angle.
However, it will run better on its side, and the
position nearer the gunwale permits more
power being put into the stroke and better
control over the canoe.

The side position is best under nearly all
circumstances. The paddlers, where two are
in a canoe, can balance each other if they move
out toward the gunwales. The paddle held
perpendicularly is always more efficient than
that which crosses the breast of the canoeman.

CHAPTER VII

LAKE TRAVEL

THE two conditions of canoe travel de-
manding great skill are those of open
water and white water. In either only
experience will bring proficiency. Instruction
is Inadequate and difficult. Set rules cannot
fit conditions which are never twice alike.
Each wave on a large lake has as much in-
dividuality as the usual stretch of rapids. Not
only knowledge, but a well developed ability
to act instinctively, automatically, and uncon-
sciously is necessary. This comes only
through experience. There can be only, on
such a subject, a number of general cautions
and rules, all of a certain elasticity and adapt-
ability.

In lake travel the canoeist probably meets
the greatest test. Rapids may be dangerous,
but they decide quickly. There is a moment
of tensity and an exhilaration, mingled with a
feeling of utter helplessness, and you are safely

67

68 THE CANOE

through or are struggling in the water. On a
broad lake, white-capped and squall-swept, the
fight may go on for hours. There is no op-
portunity to rest, to relax tense nerves and
muscles, to ease the strain.

The ability of a good canoe to live through
a gale is little less than marvelous. Provided
it is of the proper model, well handled, and
properly loaded, a canoe will live through most
anything. The greatest difficulty comes in
reaching the desired destination.

One common misconception of the canoe is
that it cannot take a sea broadside, cannot
travel In the trough. But, for a skilled canoe-
ist, there is no safer or easier direction in
which to take the wind. The canoe handles
more easily, better time can be made, and less
water will be taken. The only requisite is an
ability to balance instinctively, and this comes
only with practice and experience.

In traveling across the wind the canoe
merely rises and falls with the waves. It is
only when the crest is reached, and the craft
starts down the windward side, that a supreme
nicety in balance is necessary, that there is dan-
ger of taking water or even of capsizing. If
the waves are breaking badly, as in a quick
squall, it is necessary to head the canoe slightly

LAKE TRAVEL 69

into the wind, so that the force of the breaking
comber Is taken farther forward.

In this connection It is best to fix the status
of the bowman In any sort of bad water. Un-
der no circumstances should he ever try to
balance the canoe by leaning to one side or the
other, or by holding his paddle in the water.
From his position he Is unable to see how a
wave is affecting the canoe. The stern pad-
dler has the entire situation before him. He
alone is in a position to maintain the proper
balance, and he alone should do It. No mat-
ter how far the canoe leans one way or the
other, the bowman should maintain his posi-
tion and keep paddling. This applies to rap-
ids as well as to taking seas at any angle, both
delicate operations.

The best Instance of the necessity of such
lack of action on the bowman's part Is had in
heading slightly Into the wind when taking
heavy seas on the beam. The bow, slightly to
the windward of the stern, climbs the sea to
the crest with a quick, bouncing motion. It
shoots out over the crest, is suspended in mid
air for an instant, and then jerks down. At the
same time the stern bounces up. Simultaneously,
there is a quick shifting of the support of the
canoe by the water and a consequent, instanta-

70 THE CANOE

neous tilt from leeward to windward. The
stern paddler alone can see the exact moment
when his weight must be shifted sufficiently to
prevent taking water. Should the bowman
also act, the stern paddler's delicate poise
would be disturbed, and water would be
shipped or the canoe capsized.

On a large lake, where there are long rol-
lers, riding waves in the trough is compara-
tively easy and lacking In danger. If the seas
are short and choppy, water will splash in. On
a large river, like the Mississippi, where a
heavy wind against a strong current piles up
high, short, combing waves, there is always
danger, traveling in any direction, and only a
skilled paddler should attempt such a sea.
Riding the trough becomes especially danger-
ous here because of the opposite forces of grip-
ping current and wind.

Quartering away from the wind Is compara-
tively easy and safe. Quartering Into It Is
harder and requires great delicacy, not only in
balancing as the canoe takes an oblique plunge
over the roller, but the craft must be nursed
carefully that a stiff bow Is not offered to a
comber. Ability to handle waves on the bow
comes comparatively quickly. It Is largely a
question of forging ahead between waves and

LAKE TRAVEL 71

easing up on the power as the boat meets the
crest.

In taking the wind on the quarter, either
fore or aft, It Is Impossible to keep the point
from sluelng around several points on each
wave. The stern paddler needs only to retard
this tendency. To prevent It entirely means
a waste of strength and to hold the craft solidly
against a wave, with a consequent taking of
water over the gunwales.

Running before the wind Is much like tak-
ing It on the quarter. Practically all the stern
man's strength Is needed to keep the canoe
straight, for slue around It will when a roller
passes beneath It. A perfect balance only Is
necessary to keep the craft dry, provided It Is
not loaded too heavily.

Bucking straight Into a gale requires eternal
watchfulness, endurance and patience. A pug-
nacious spirit may prove disastrous. Every
wave cannot be conquered. With most a
compromise must be effected.

Many canoeists make the mistake of trav-
eling too fast against a heavy wind. This re-
sults in the bow plunging into a wave and tak-
ing water. To drive a canoe hard against the
wind also results In the bow shooting out over
)the crest and dropping with a thud onto thq

72 THE CANOE

next wave. This not only causes the spray to
fly and the canoe to stop, but It Is hard on the
craft. A paddle blade may be split by strik-
ing it flat against the water. What must be
the result when a canoe drops with a bang,
the bottom striking flatly against the side of a
wave?

In a short, choppy sea there is more splash
because the waves will not lift the bow. In a
longer roll, though the waves may be higher,
there is less danger of taking water. Some-
times, even with a lake model canoe, water will
come over. In such cases It is well to move
the load back, even to have the bow paddler
sit back of his seat or thwart. This lightens
the bow, which rises more easily and dryly
with the wave. The question of ballast in all
kinds of water is discussed in the chapter on
precautions.

In paddling against a wind a regular stroke
is almost Impossible, if the waves are running
high. Distance must be made between rollers
and the speed eased up when a particularly
vicious wave is met.

If waves are particularly choppy and, even
with a lightened bow. Insist on coming over,
a clever bowman may escape a great deal of
spray by jumping the canoe over each roller.

LAKE TRAVEL 73

An Indian taught me the trick. When the bow
began to rise to the crest of a curler that
threatened to come over, he would leap up-
ward from his knees. Probably seventy-five
per cent, of his weight would be removed from
the canoe. The bow would spring upward and
top the wave. As his weight descended the
crest had been passed, and the bow would drop
gently on the other side. It is a trick which
should be attempted only by an experienced
bowman.

While a good stern paddler may balance his
craft perfectly as waves pass under him, he
may add to the security by holding his paddle
in the water. Many canoeists steady a canoe
in this manner without realizing that they do
so. A stern paddler also will unintentionally
alternate his stroke with that of the bowman
in bad water. This aids In maintaining a bet-
ter equilibrium, as one paddle is in the water
while the other is lifted for the next stroke.

The presence or absence of a load makes a
big difference in the action of a canoe on a
rough lake. A load increases the steadiness
greatly. Too great a load results in a loggy
craft that easily ships water. A light canoe
with two men will dance buoyantly over the
waves, but is extremely hard to handle. Its

74 THE CANOE

vtvy buoyancy results in a lack of steadiness.

With a load allowing six or seven inches
of freeboard in the center, perhaps the best
results may be obtained with a sixteen-foot
canoe. This affords protection from curlers,
while the craft retains sufficient buoyancy to
rise with a wave.

A canoeist who has been in the wilderness
more than twenty years, has crossed practically
every lake in Ontario, and that means thou-
sands, and has had experience in the swift
rivers of Quebec and Labrador, ballasts a light
canoe with logs when there is a heavy gale or
bad rapids to be run. The weight gives steadi-
ness to the craft, the logs would come in handy
if there were an accident, and the load will not
shift or roll if several short limbs are left on
the logs. A rock or two could be more easily
obtained, but they might roll or shift their
position and cause an upset, while, should there
be an accident, they would be of no assistance.

The whole proposition of lake travel is one
of experience and caution. A good canoe,
properly loaded and handled, will perform
wonders. A good canoeman and such a craft
can live through anything short of a hurricane.
But there is always a time when even the ex-
perienced man remains on shore. A slip of

LAKE TRAVEL 75

the paddle, the shifting of a pack, a moment
of inattention, and disaster comes quickly and
surely.

The best way to learn is to do it. Begin In
light winds until the nicety and instinctiveness
of balancing is perfected, becomes automatic.
Then, within easy reach of shore, all sorts and
conditions of wind and waves may be tried
out until the canoeman learns what he can do
and what he cannot do. Once he has discov-
ered his own limitations and those of his craft,
he is safe, provided he keeps within bounds.

CHAPTER VIII

RIVER WORK

FOR the skilled canoeman river work
probably offers the greatest attraction.
If It be a known river there Is the joy
of the swift, short dashes through white water.
If It be an unknown stream there Is the pleas-
ure of the unexpected at every turn. New
rapids must be studied and dared. Upstream
there Is the toll and risk of portage and pole.
Downstream there Is the fleetness and hazard
of swift current and wrenching rips.

There are really five divisions in river work
— ^the paddle, the setting pole, the tracking
line, wading, and the portage. In the first
three there Is danger, and skill and experience
are necessary for the successful journey. As
with rough lake travel, definite Instruction or
rules can serve for little more than a guide.

The pole Is used In upstream work, though
many use one In running rapids. In swift water
76

RIVER WORK 77

and rapids there Is no other way to make prog-
fTess, under ordinary conditions. A five-mlle-
I an-hour current nearly offsets work with the
addle. Passing up through rapids Is impos-
sible without a pole.

A pole should be ten or eleven feet long.
One end should be shod with an iron spike,
which can be attached by means of a cap fit-
ting over the end of the pole and held on with
nails. The spike may be carried in a pack and
a pole cut and properly shod when It Is needed.

Probably more skill is necessary in poling
up through rapids than ever is required with
the paddle. In eastern Canada, where there
are many swift rivers, there are many men
who travel up seemingly impossible rapids with
comparative ease.

Perhaps the first thing a canoeist should
learn Is the power of moving water. He can
do this In the little mill dam at home, where
the Inch-deep water from the sluggish creek,
flowing through the apron, strikes his feet and
shoots up over his head. The faucet in his
bathroom will serve for the city man. A
stream navigable by canoe may easily develop
ten or fifteen thousand horse power. A man
has only to thrust his paddle straight down in
swift water and try to hold it there to learn

78 THE CANOE

how little is his own strength and how great
that with which he must contend.

When the canoeman has duly appreciated
the power of water in rapids he must not be
misled by the seeming ease with which increas-
ing ability with the pole permits him to ascend.
The power is still there; he has only acquired
the knack of evading it. He learns that suc-
cess depends upon keeping the canoe headed
straight into the current. To let a strong cur-
rent grip either side of the bow more than the
other means an advantage for the current with
which his own puny strength is unable to cope.
Once a canoe starts to turn, it instantly swings
broadside and is swept back and down. If it
strikes a rock there is instant disaster. If it
plunges broadside into a heavy backlash there
is little or no chance.

The skilled handler of a pole, by heading
his canoe slightly one way or the other, can
utilize the power of the current to carry him
sideways without danger of being turned
around. This is frequently necessary in
changing from one channel to another or in
avoiding boulders. It must be done delicately
and carefully, however.

In such work the advantage of the canoe
with ends higher than the bottom is seen.

RIVER WORK 79

There is less of bow or stern in the water, and
less for the current to grip. The boat can be
turned easily by the canoeman, but it is not
turned so easily by the current as a straight-
keeled craft.

When there are two men poling in the same
canoe the work is easier and safer. Both can
apply motive power, while the man in the bow
may do much of the steering. This leaves the
stern man free to expend more of his strength
in shooting the canoe upstream.

Unlike paddling, both men pole on the same
side. The application of power at the stern
by pole is directly opposite to that by paddle,
so far as the course is concerned, as it is a
push, not a pull. In the bow the result is the
same with pole or paddle. Hence, both poles
must be used on the same side.

One skillful poler can do wonders in up-
stream work. Two can do the seemingly
impossible.

To pole it is necessary, of course, to stand
in the canoe. This is not so difficult as it
seems, once the canoeman has acquired a nat-
ural or instinctive sense of balance. The pole
helps greatly in keeping him steady.

The pole should be held with the left hand
as near the top as the depth of water permits.

80 THE CANOE

The right hand, held about two feet lower,
should be stationary. The left hand slides
out toward the end on the recovery, sliding
down nearer the right when the greatest power
is applied.

As the canoeman passes the point where the
pole rests on the bottom he begins to apply the
greatest pressure. He leans forward, and his
weight and strength are both used in a quick
propulsion of the canoe against the current.
The knees bend, and he assumes a semi-squat-
ting position when exerting the greatest press-
ure. The recovery and grasp of a new hold
on the bottom should be accomplished as
quickly as possible that the canoe may not lose
all its headway or the bow swing so as to be
caught by the current.

If one is not accustomed to poling, it is ex-
ceedingly tiresome work for a few days. After
once being broken in, a man can pole ten hours
a day or more with no greater exhaustion than
from paddling.

In running rapids with a pole it is necessary
to stand in a canoe, and here greater skill and
experience are essential than in ascending swift
currents. By beginning in less tumultuous
rapids, however, the knack can be learned and
the canoeman will discover that, as he can

RIVER WORK 81

force the canoe against a current, he can also
" snub " his craft quickly when going down-
stream.

In shallow, fast, boulder-filled water the
pole is the better implement for running
rapids. With the bowman using a paddle and
doing much of the steering, the stern man,
standing erect with his pole, is ready for in-
stant action in stopping his craft or in swinging
it across a current to avoid a boulder or gain
a better channel.

Where rapids are deep and with only a few
or no large boulders, use of the paddle in both
bow and stern is the best method. Both pad-
dlers should kneel, thereby increasing the sta-
bility of the canoe and affording greater safety
in those strong, quick, lateral strokes necessary
in changing the course of the craft. The bow-
man is of nearly equal importance with the
stern paddler in guiding the canoe, and it must
always be remembered that the canoe must
move faster than the current if there is to be
Steerage-way. When the craft has been slowed
down to the speed of the current, in changing
the course from one channel to another or in
avoiding boulders, it can be turned only by the
paddlers reaching far out to the side and pull-
ing it over by main strength.

82 THE CANOE

Only experience gained by beginning with
harmless rips and working up through more
treacherous currents can tell the canoeman
how to judge rapids and how to estimate his
own ability to negotiate them successfully. He
will learn the force of moving water and what
his craft can do, will learn how quickly he can
" snub " or turn, how to cross currents, and
how to make use of currents in holding or
changing his course.

Perhaps the best way to learn to run rapids
is to climb them. Let the canoeman use a pole
and spend day after day ascending some rapid-
filled stream. A strong and necessary respect
for the power of moving water will be in-
stilled, and knowledge of the effect of twisting
currents on a canoe will be learned with the
danger greatly lessened.

Then, after a couple of weeks of the ex-
hausting work, let the canoeman turn his craft
and run down. He will pass three to six camp-
ing places in a day. There will be the exhila-
ration of rapid movement that seems more
rapid after the long days of plodding. And
he will know every rip, every twisting current,
the location of every boulder. The slow up-
ward journey permits careful Inspection of
each rapid and gives that knowledge necessary

RIVER WORK 83

for successful downstream work. A trip of
this nature will give a canoeman far more ex-
perience and skill than six weeks of running
downstream.

With some canoeists success in running
rapids breeds contempt. It is generally with
such men that accidents happen. " I got care-
less just once and ran some rapids without
studying them," is the way a mining engineer
explained the loss of his equipment when mak-
ing a run to James Bay. He and his compan-
ion lost everything except their canoe and lived
on fish for six days.
\L One of the first things to be learned in river
work is the ability to read the bottom of the
stream by the surface. The depth of the
stream, every boulder, each swirl and twist in
the current, is seen instantly by the practiced
eye. A trained canoeman will run a strange
rapid after one glance downstream. Only a
few of the essentials can be told here. The
fine points of the game, the infinite variations,
must be learned by experience.

A rock four inches below the surface will
barely show, by ripples, in a four-mile current.
In a twelve-mile current the same sized boul-
der will be easily known, though it is a foot or
more below the surface. In swift rapids,

84 THE CANOE

where there Is a great volume of water, rocks
three or more feet beneath the surface throw
up large waves. The canoeman learns to
know when his canoe may strike such a rock
and when It may pass over It In safety.

At first the canoeman will not be able to dis-
tinguish between waves and ripples produced
by rocks beneath the surface and those caused
by the swift current suddenly entering a deep
pool beneath the rapids. Then the backlash,
or waves, appear much like those caused by
boulders, when In reality they are caused by
the shock of swift water suddenly striking com-
paratively deadNwater, or by a volume of water
so great that the channel does not permit a
straight, even flow.

The backlash is not dangerous unless It
assumes large proportions or the canoe drops
Into It broadside. Then It becomes de-
ceptively so. Unlike rollers piled up by a
gale on an open lake, waves In rapids are ex-
ceedingly stiff and uncompromising. They are
high, curling, and close together. The canoe
does not have the chance to rise and fall gently
as on a lake, but, urged by the current, plunges
directly into them before lifting. It Is In such
rollers, when they become three or more feet
high, that a canoe will fill and sink so quickly

RIVER WORK 85

that the canoeman does not realize what has
happened until he Is in the water.

More accidents have occurred in rapids be-
cause of failure to estimate the backlash, or to
handle the canoe properly In it, than from
striking rocks. Once the canoeman Is In the
backlash, the only thing he can do is to hold
his craft straight, ease the shock of striking
^aves as best he can, and keep an even keel.

Rocks in rapids are dangerous, but they are
not so dangerous as popularly supposed. A
canoe, properly handled, will never strike a
large boulder in midstream if the boulder is
so near the surface as to split the current.
When a canoe does strike such a rock it Is
Invariably due to Ignorance of a simple rule in
running rapids. A large rock near or above
the surface In a large volume of swift water
splits the current completely. Only the spray
or a small percentage of the water passes over
the rock. The strong, compelling water flows
on either side.

In approaching such a rock it Is only neces-
sary that the canoe be kept straight with the
current and a little to one side of where the
split will occur. Then the current will take
the canoe with it around the rock. The danger
comes in making a quick turn to dodge the rock

86 THE CANOE

and permitting that half of the current which
passes on the opposite side to gra$p the stern.
Then things happen so quickly that the canoe-
man probably never figures out just what did
occur.

The canoe was turned to pass to the right
of the rock. In turning, the stern was shoved
into that part of the current passing to the left
of the rock. There it was held and swept
downward, the craft turning broadside to the
current and being carried directly on to the
rock. In such a position skill and strength are
powerless, and the canoe 'is crushed or at
least turned over and the canoemen arid duffle
spilled.

Many times, in running rapids, it is neces-
sary to change from one channel to another.
It is in this that great skill is necessary. Knowl-
edge of the action of twisting currents is also
essential that the water may be made to do as
much of the work as possible. It is necessary
first, of course, that the canoe be moving faster
than the water that there may be steerage-way.
The stern paddler must do most of the work,
for the bowman, by pulling the bow to one side
or the other, offers the current an opportunity
to grasp the canoe broadside. The stern pad-
dler should pull the stern toward the direction

RIVER WORK 87

In which he wishes to go. The current will
swing the bow, although the bowman should
hasten the movement. In this way the canoe
may be lifted sideways, or slightly diagonally,
until the new channel Is attained. Sometimes,
in swift but comparatively open water, It is
possible to shoot diagonally down and across,
but the canoe must be traveling much faster
than the current.
\ r The beginner should never offer the bow of
/a canoe to a vicious bit of fast water, nor
should he ever attempt to travel straight across
a current. In ascending rapids It is a good rule
always to keep the bow headed straight Into the
current until the canoeman has learned to use
the current In changing the course. A member
of the Canadian geological survey lost his life .
because he attempted to go straight across a
bad stretch of rapids. The current and back-
lash flipped the canoe over Instantly.

There are times when tracking, or lining, a
canoe is easier and safer than poling, while
the trouble of portaging Is unnecessary. Many
rapids can be ascended in no other way, the
volume or speed of the water making poling
impossible.

The line should be run through a ring in the
bow of the canoe and fastened to one or two

88 THE CANOE

thwarts. If the canoe is heavily loaded and
the current very swift, much of the strain may
be eased and distributed by passing the line be-
neath the packs in the bottom of the canoe and
fastening to a thwart in the rear. Then any
sudden strain is expended on the line beneath
the packs and not on any one point in the
canoe. When there is no ring in the bow the
line should be given a turn on the shore side
of the bow thwart and fastened to a rear
thwart.

One man can pull a heavy canoe up a bad
stretch of rapids. His companion should walk
along the shore opposite the craft and keep it
off the rocks. If there is much tracking to be
done, a tump line used as a breast or shoulder
strap will make the work much easier for the
man ahead.

Sometimes rapids are so shallow it is neces-
sary to wade and pull the canoe. The work
is made much easier if there is a man at either
end to lead the craft across currents and
around rocks and shallow places. One man
alone at the bow often has a difficult and exas-
perating time of it.

In summing up the question of negotiating
rapids, It might be said that It is the most dan-
gerous phase of canoeing, that it never is com-

RIVER WORK 89

pletely safe, that the utmost skill, caution, and
watchfulness must be exercised constantly, and
that no other form of canoeing offers so much
sport to the man who has mastered his craft
and himself.

CHAPTER IX

PRECAUTIONS: BALLASTING THE CANOE

THE seasoned wilderness traveler learns
many precautions, recognizes signs of
danger, and realizes the value of com-
promise and stealth as opposed to that of
blind, bulldog fighting, while the novice con-
tinues unconcernedly, miraculously avoiding
dangers which he does not see or recognize.
The novice learns slowly, unless disaster has
brought him up with a start, or a series of
narrow escapes has taught more quickly the
necessity of eternal caution when on a canoe
journey.

Drifting down a stream in the midst of civil-
ization or traveling through the wilderness,
there Is always the possibility of danger
around the next bend, beyond the next
point. Rapids, falls, treacherous currents,
gathering storms, sudden squalls, hidden
rocks — each of the many possible dangers of
the wilderness Is taken as part of the day's
90

PRECAUTIONS 91

work by the woodsman and guarded against or
anticipated accordingly. The man traveling
through a country for the first time, especially
if he is not a skilled woodsman, must be on
his guard continually. His map may not tell
him of every rapids or falls and his Ignorance
of local weather conditions does not permit his
forecasting storms or estimating their possi-
billtes.

The woodsman, if he knows his country,
many times travels by weather. That is, he
forecasts the weather In the morning and picks
his route accordingly. If he sees signs of a
heavy wind or quick, strong squalls, he will
choose the lee shore of a large lake, even
though he must paddle more miles to reach his
destination. He may even forsake a straight
course down big lakes and make a detour
through sheltered streams and small lakes. If
he does not know the country he will study his
map well at night or before starting in the
morning, estimating his chances of crossing big
stretches of water, noting islands and points
that will afford shelter from a strong wind
and permit him to " sneak " around an open
stretch.

The seasoned traveler in a land of large
lakes does most of his traveling before nine

92 THE CANOE

o'clock In the morning. Under ordinary con-
ditions, the wind seldom attains much strength
before that time. To be up at three o'clock
and In the canoe by four means half a day's
travel before a storm makes further progress
Impossible. The woodsman will study his
route and so time his journey that he may
strike big, open stretches of water In the early
morning. If he knows his country well, he will
do most of his traveling after sunset, sleeping
In the daytime.

There are days on large lakes when travel Is
Impossible at any time, and there Is no alter-
native except a tiresome wait on shore. The
sunset lull may offer a chance of escape, al-
though. In stormy weather, this may last only
ten or fifteen minutes, hardly enough to risk a
dash across a three or four-mile stretch in
which the dead swells are still rolling.

Weather conditions vary In different parts
of the country, and forecasting at best Is a
gamble, but there are generally several
signs of squally weather which are common
anywhere. A close, hot day generally means
a storm In the night or the next forenoon. In
some parts of the country certain winds pre-
vailing for a day bring a storm. The canoeist
should learn these weather indications In the

PRECAUTIONS 98

country In which he Is to travel and avoid open
stretches when there Is a possibility of a quick,
sharp squall or strong wind.

While this is Important, It is also essential
that the canoeist know what he can do and
what is Impossible for him and his craft under
certain conditions. He may cross a stretch of
open water in a strong, steady wind in perfect
safety, but he should always estimate the na-
ture of the wind and of the waves, look for
possible shelter in an emergency and know
exactly how much his canoe will stand and how
much he himself can contend with.

In traveling In a new country care is neces-
sary in descending rivers. Ordinarily falls or
rapids make themselves heard In plenty of
time to permit the canoeist to get to shore.
But sometimes, when a strong wind Is blowing,
or the river Is making sharp turns In rocky
gorges, one will turn a bend to find himself
at the brink of a falls or rapids.

People who live In such a country and know
the rivers thoroughly will sometimes run the
top of a bad stretch of rapids and thereby
shorten their portage as much as possible.
Care should be taken in such places not to
overrun the portage. Upstream, of course,
there Is practically no danger.

94 THE CANOE

The question of ballasting a canoe properly
comes best in such a chapter, for upon the dis-
tribution of the load In a craft depends safety
as well as ease in travel and dry duffle. No
matter what the distribution fore and aft, the
weight of the load should always be placed as
low as possible. If there is room to lay a pack
flat on the bottom, it should not be stood up.
If there Is not room on the bottom for all the
packs, those containing the heaviest articles
should be placed beneath those containing
tents and blankets. A low load not only means
greater stability and safety, but offers less sur-
face to the wind.

In ordinary travel, in open water or in
rivers, the bow should ride two or three inches
higher than the stern. Many canoeists put an
unnecessary drag on their craft by placing the
bulk of the load In the stern.

In running down a swift stream or traveling
before the wind, a canoe should be on a nearly
even keel.

In bucking straight into a heavy wind the
bow should be greatly lightened. If two men
are traveling with a very light load or with
no load at all, it is better for the bowman to
move back nearer the middle. A light bow
means a drier canoe.

PRECAUTIONS 95

In running before a gale the canoe will han-
dle better, and will be drier, if the bow is as
far down as the stern.

In traveling upstream, especially when
poling, it is better to have the bow ride much
higher than the stern. The canoe handles
more easily, as there is less opportunity for
the current to grip and twist the bow, and
greater progress is possible.

The advisability of having a light bow and
stern in a heavy sea or in rapids with a bad
backlash is seen when a man paddles his
canoe alone from the center. Bow and stern
rise and fall easily with each wave, and the
lone canoeman, while he may not make the
speed, gets through with a dry craft and with
practically no danger of upsetting.

To travel on the principle that there is to be
no opportunity for an upset is the best way to
keep dry duffle. If, however, the canoeist
wishes to take chances on windy lakes or in
rapids, he should at least take the precaution
of lashing the more important pieces of his
equipment to the canoe. This may be done,
if packsacks are used, by simply unbuckling a
strap, passing it over a thwart, and rebuckling
it. If duffle bags are used, a tump line may
be attached to a thwart, run through the han-

96 THE CANOE

dies at the ends of the bags and attached to
another thwart.

The canoeist should never venture into the
wilderness or far from a base of supplies with-
out a repair outfit. Manufacturers Invariably
will furnish directions for repairing their craft
and will supply the necessary materials. As a
rule, It is better to obtain such an outfit at the
time the canoe is purchased. If this has not
been done, a can of Ambroid or a good canoe
cement, some copper tacks, and several small
squares of canvas will do. White lead is fur-
nished now in friction top tins and is excellent
for repairs.

In case of a tear in a canvas canoe, the torn
edges should be pulled back, white lead, canoe
cement, or Ambroid placed on the planking
and the canvas stretched back and tacked
down. An outside coat of white lead or ce-
ment completes the job. With a wooden canoe
it Is generally necessary to shape a thin piece
of cedar between the ribs and the batten strips
on the inside, tacking it on with copper tacks
after first coating it with white lead or
Ambroid.

A yoke furnishes the best method of carrying a canoe weighing
eighty pounds or more, especially if trails be rough.

CHAPTER X

THE PORTAGE ; METHODS OF CARRYING CANOES ;
THEIR CARE

THERE are many methods of carrying a
canoe, each generally depending upon
the size and weight of the craft, the
custom of a particular district, and the preju-
dice or hobby of the carrier. A twelve-foot
birch, weighing only twenty pounds or less,
may be taken across a portage by simply
thrusting the arm beneath the middle thwart
and carrying it as a woman would a market
basket.

With such a canoe, or one weighing as high
as fifty pounds, the canoeman may, if there is
nothing else to carry, throw it onto his shoul-
der, one side resting on the shoulder and the
other against his head. In both cases the pad-
dles are placed inside.

With light canoes, however, it is very easy
and simple to carry a packsack as well, and
tHen the canoe must be turned over and carried

97

98 THE CANOE

bottom side up. This may be done in any one
of three or four ways. The canoe may be
turned over on the pack and the middle
thwart rested on the back of the neck or on
the pack itself. Few canoes are made, how-
ever, with a thwart exactly in the center. Gen-
erally the middle thwart is placed four to
twelve inches aft.

There remain the two accepted forms of
carrying — with the paddles or with a yoke.
Some Indians employ a fourth method and
carry the canoe by a headstrap or tump line
attached to a stiff pole lashed to the middle
thwart and on top of the gunwales.

With a canoe weighing less than seventy-five
or eighty pounds the paddles probably afford
the best method. There is no extra contriv-
ance to be adjusted or to get lost, just one less
piece in the equipment. To carry a canoe with
paddles, thongs or strings should be tacked to
the center and rear thwarts. They should be
so arranged that the paddles can be easily
slipped in and out and yet be held securely.
The paddle blades should be placed on the
center thwart and the other ends at the stern.
The blades should be far enough apart to per-
mit them to rest on the shoulders without
cramping the neck muscles.

THE PORTAGE 99

While a canoe may be carried on paddles
with the center thwart some distance from the
exact center of balance, the canoeist will be
wise to have his canoe built with the center
thwart exactly in the center. Then, with the
paddles properly adjusted, the weight is dis-
tributed between the shoulders, by the paddle
blades, and the back of the neck by the thwart.
The spring of the paddles is eliminated, and
the canoe will carry much more easily.

With either method, if there is not enough
natural covering for the bones, a shirt or
sweater thrown across the shoulders will
serve. Patented air pillows and pads are only
something extra to be cared for and accom-
plish no more than a good woolen shirt.

The Indian seldom attaches his paddles to
the thwarts. Generally he places the shafts
on the center thwart and the blades on the
bottom of the canoe. He will hold them there
with his hands as he swings the canoe over
his head. But he has a light canoe and has
been doing that sort of thing for several hun-
dred years. The white man will have less
trouble if he has his paddles lashed.

Several forms of yokes are manufactured,
and, where one man is to carry a canoe weigh-
ing eighty pounds or more, they will be found

100 THE CANOE

an advantage over the paddles. A stiff paddle
will hold such a canoe, but it is not the best
implement for its principal use.

The original, home-made yoke, and one
now being manufactured, consists of two par-
allel bars reaching from gunwale to gunwale
and braced about eighteen inches apart. Some-
times wooden buttons hold the yoke to the gun-
wales, or It may be made to fit a certain canoe
tightly. But generally it is loose, the weight
of the canoe holding it in place. The loose
yoke is a great disadvantage, however, in get-
ting the canoe to the shoulders and back to
the ground.

With such a yoke the shoulder contrivance
is made in one of several ways. Generally
two broad strips of canvas are tacked to the
two crossbars, running parallel to the canoe
and resting on the shoulders. Sometimes
these strips are made of rawhide or other
leather, and canoemen have been known to
tack a large piece of raw moosehide to the two
bars and cut a hole through which to thrust the
head.

One of the first manufactured yokes was
patterned after the old-fashioned, hand-carved
water bucket yoke. This will serve very well If
there Is a proper method of attaching It solidly

THE PORTAGE 101

to the canoe. At first the canoeman fears It
will twist his head off if he should stumble,
but a little experience shows that one can
easily extricate himself.

The best yoke for carrying a canoe is that
generally sold In the United States. It con-
sists of a single crossbar which has a curve of
several Inches in the center to make room for
the neck. On each side of the center is a
wooden block covered with a leather, hair-
stuffed pad. When the canoe is In position,
these pads rest on the shoulders and make
carrying as comfortable as is possible.

One caution must be exercised In purchasing
such a yoke. See that the two pads are at-
tached to the crossbar by thumb screws and
are adjustable. One make of yoke has fixed
pads, whereas men do not have the same width
of neck or of shoulders. A yoke with the
pads too close together is impossible.

A little experience will show that a canoe is
carried more easily when the carrying contriv-
ance Is so fixed that the stern Is heavier than
the bow. One hand grasping a gunwale then
balances the canoe perfectly, while there is no
obstruction of the view of the trail.

When a canoe becomes too heavy for one
man, or if no one in the party cares to portage

102 THE CANOE

an 125-pound craft alone, two men may carry
the canoe. Experienced canoemen are unani-
mous, however, in the opinion that one man
may carry a canoe more comfortably alone
than with the aid of another, even when the
weight exceeds one hundred pounds. Further,
there is one less trip across the portage and
back.

When two men carry a canoe it should be
carried bottom side up and lifted above their
heads. The man at the stern then lowers his
end until the gunwales rest on his shoulders.
His companion lowers his end until the front
thwart rests upon the back of his neck and
shoulders. Both men then have a good view
of the trail, while each may carry a light pack.
It should be remembered, however, that the
man in front has more than his share of the
canoe. Further, if he finds that the thwart
is painful, he can lash the paddles to the center
and forward thwarts.

Due to ignorance or carelessness, the canoe
receives more abuse on portages than any-
where else. Manufacturers have built a re-
markable craft for its pounds, but it will not
stand everything. The canoe is built for a
purpose, a purpose which It alone can fill, and,
for the very reason that It will carry heavy

THE PORTAGE 103

loads and still can be easily carried itself, it
must have its weak points.

These weak points need never be put to the
test if the canoe is properly built and is prop-
erly handled. Remember that a craft weigh-
ing sixty-five pounds can carry nearly half a
ton, but that the sixty-five pounds are spread
out over a length of sixteen feet and a width
of three. Naturally the supposition should be
that no great weight should ever rest on one
point or small surface. See that the weight is
always distributed, don't try to prove a manu-
facturer's claim as to what his product will do
in a freak test, and your canoe will live much
longer and continue to give good service.

Following these simple rules without excep-
tion means fair treatment for your canoe:

Never load a canoe which is not floating
freely.

Never run the bow or stern of a canoe onto
the shore; always come up to the land broad-
side. Step out into the water rather than to
rest the craft against a rock, snag, or gravel
bottom.

Never take a canoe from the water unless
it is empty and can be easily handled.

Never load a canp? on shore and then drag
it into the water.

104 THE CANOE

Never lift the bow of a loaded canoe onto
a rock or onto the shore. Unload it, or tie
it and let it drift.

Always be careful in stepping into a canoe
to let the weight down gently, and after
making sure that there are no rocks or snags
beneath the craft upon which your additional
weight will force the bottom.

Never sit on or in a canoe on shore.

To seasoned canoeists some of these rules
may appear useless, if not actually an insult.
But there is not one of them that is not broken
hundreds of times a day, while the men who
observe them all are rare.

But caring for the canoe properly and ob-
taining the most adaptable method of carrying
it does not end the subject of portaging. In
some districts the portage is an ever-present
problem. A portage may be marked on a
map, and it may not. Even if marked, it may
be on either side. There are a few north
country portages which are on islands, rapids,
or falls forbidding passage by canoe and the
nature of the shore prohibiting an easy carry.
Portages leading from lakes to other lakes, or
to rivers, may start most anywhere. In fact,
a stranger in the wilderness more often than
not spends much time looking for the trail over
which he must carry his burden. Frequently

THE PORTAGE 105

the take-off Is not blazed. It may start from
a flat rock on which there Is no trace of a trail,
or its end may be hidden behind rocks or
bushes In a cove.

The experienced woodsman does not have
so much trouble, for he has learned how to
look for a portage. He knows that a portage,
no matter where, how or why, was made by
men who sought the shortest and easiest way
between two lakes or around a falls. In fact,
he looks for the obvious place for the portage
rather than for the blaze or the beginning of
a trail.

Traveling on a river, he knows, naturally,
that there will be portages around bad rapids
and falls. When he encounters such a place
he looks first at the hills on either side of the
stream. He looks down the valley to see if
the river bends. If it turns to the left, he
looks to the left bank for the beginning of the
portage. If it be high water, he looks close
to the top of the falls or beginning of the rips.
If the water Is low, he looks farther up. If
there Is a short stretch of rapids that can be
easily run, and quiet water between it and the
more vicious rips beyond, he will run through
and look for the portage where the quiet water
ends.

On a lake the woodsman will watch the

106 THE CANOE

country back from the shore rather than the
shore itself. If he knows where the lake or
river into which he must portage lies, he will
study the intervening country, look for a bay
running back in the right direction and then
pick the lowest point in the hills behind the
shore.

None of these rules is hard and fast, but in
the main they are to be relied upon. The
exception occurs only where unusual geological
formations make unusual portages necessary.
There are times, too, when thick brush or
windfalls caused the original portage makers
to take a longer route because it could be more
easily cut out.

In the north country there is invariably one
distinguishing feature at each end of every
portage — the tea stick. The Indians and the
woodsmen boil the pot often in their travels,
and, should there be no blaze or trail to mark
the take-off of a portage, the traveler should
look for the blackened sapling thrust into the
ground or propped across a rock.

CHAPTER XI

PACKING; VARIOUS METHODS; THEIR ADAPT-
ABILITY

PACKING, which here means the recep-
tacles for various articles taken on a
journey and the method of carrying the
same, is one of the most widely discussed
problems of the canoeman. Each district has
its general method, and each individual has his
variations and adaptations of that method, or
a combination of several.

The original and perhaps most common
method of packing in North America is with
the head strap, or tump line. Some enthusi-
astic delvers have discovered that this is of
Asiatic origin. It is so simple and adaptable,
however, that it can be understood how its
origin may have been spontaneous wherever
people found it necessary to transport bur-
dens.

Because the method, used by the Indian
and adopted by the French voyageur and
107

108 THE CANOE

Hudson's Bay Company packer, is the most
universal, experts in wilderness travel have
given it not only first place but declare there is
no other adequate method. Their declarations
are always predicated on the fact that it is
the method universally used by the Hudson's
Bay Company packers.

However, there are few canoeists whose
journeys are similar to those of the fur pack-
ers. The fur brigade takes out many bundles
of pelts, each package weighing about eighty
pounds. In the large canoes used there may
be twenty or more such packages. It would
be out of the question to have a packing con-
trivance attached to each. So the canoeman
attaches his tump line to a bale or two of
fur, carries It across, unties the tump, and
returns for another load.

If a canoeing party Is to take a long trip
Into the wilderness, and carry supplies for
many weeks, the tump line Is an excellent con-
trivance for packing. But where the journey
is to be for only two or three weeks, the prob-
lems of the exploring expedition or the fur
brigade are absent, and It does not necessarily
follow that the tump line Is still the best or
only means of portaging.

There is one fundamental thing In the mat-

PACKING 109

ter of packing that should be first understood.
Any method means hard work and Is produc-
tive of much torture for the beginner. Muscles
become hardened and accustomed to the strain
in time, but packing is always hard work.
Whatever ease may be attained Is mental
rather than physical. The stronger the mus-
cles become, the bigger the load a man will
carry that the number of trips may be less-
ened. He can look upon a portage with equa-
nimity only after he has reached that state of
mind where he can see the carry as an inevit-
able part of the day's work, something that
can be made easier only as the time devoted to
it is lessened.

Tump line or pack harness, pack basket or
pack sack, each will torture at first, each affords
hard work. And for the short trip canoeist,
the subject resolves Itself more into a question
of convenience and adaptability than anything
else. To determine this It is better first to
describe the various methods.

The tump line may be used especially well
with the small, waterproof duffle bags com-
monly taken Into the wilderness. The tump
line, which consists of a broad piece of leather
with two long thongs of leather fastened at
each end by sewing or buckles, may be attached

110 THE CANOE

to one or more duffle bags. These are then
lifted to the back and the broad band placed
across the top of the forehead, most of it
above the hair line. The thongs should not
be so long that the load comes below the hips,
nor so short it rests high on the back. With
this load adjusted the packer can toss addi-
tional duffle bags on top, letting them rest
against the taut thongs, his shoulders, and the
back of his head.

With a pack cloth the two thongs of the
tump line are stretched along either side about
a foot from the edges and the edges turned
over them. The duffle is piled in a compact
heap in the center of the cloth. Sharp or hard
articles should not touch the cloth. The sides
are folded over the duffle and the thongs
pulled tightly, as are puckering strings, and
tied around the bundle. A blanket may be
used in place of a pack cloth.

The pack harness generally consists of
shoulder straps and a head strap with thongs
attached for tying the contrivance to any sort
or size of bundle. One style of pack harness
has a long bag attached with extra folds of
duck to hold additional duffle.

The pack basket is a receptacle woven from
oak splits or other wood and having two shoul-

PACKING 111

der straps attached. Sometimes it is covered
with waterproofed duck. Unlike most pack-
ing contrivances, its capacity is unalterable.
Neither is its rigid shape adaptable for canoes.

The packsack, a Minnesota product, is be-
coming more widely known and used each year.
Until a few years ago it was unknown except
in Minnesota and western Ontario. Like the
pack harness in the eastern States, the pack
basket in the eastern mountains, and the tump
line in Canada, it. is a distinctively local con-
trivance, but one which, for the short canoe
trip, offers the best solution of the packing
problem.

The packsack Is a large bag of heavy duck
with two shoulder straps and a head strap at-
tached. A large flap covers the top of the bag
and is strapped down. The bag is carried by
the shoulder straps and the head strap across
the forehead. Its size and its construction
permit any load up to its maximum capacity,
and no adjustment of straps Is necessary with
small or large load.

Packsacks are made by several firms In
Minnesota and Ontario, and there are as many
degrees of efficiency. The Ideal packsack
should be made of heavy, waterproofed duck
with leather shoulder and head straps. The

112 THE CANOE

head strap should be attached far down on the
side of the bag and the shoulder straps far
enough up so that the load does not hang
away from the back. Sizes vary from a small
bag for a light load to the blanket sack, which
will carry half a dozen blankets.

Still another packing contrivance used by
many canoeists is the lunch box of wood, fiber,
or light sheet iron. In this, dishes and the
lunch food are packed, the box being carried
by a tump line or placed on the top of a pack.
These add ten to twenty pounds to the weight
and are awkward and inconvenient in the
canoe or on a portage.

In packing with a tump line the limit of the
load is the packer's strength and experience.
With the pack harness it is difficult to handle
much more than seventy-five pounds, although
other packs may be placed on top, once the
pack is in place. With the pack basket there
is a rigid limit to what may be carried. The
packsack's limit in food is about 125 pounds.

When packsacks are used one or two lighter
packs may be carried on top of the first pack.
There is no doubt but that the adaptability of
the tump line makes it possible to carry the
heaviest loads with such a contrivance, pro-
vided the packer was born with a tump line

^^K*

One or more packsacks may be thrown on top of the first pack.

PACKING 118

across his forehead. But the canoeist seldom
attempts more than 125 to 150 pounds, and
such a burden may be carried with the pack-
sack as well as with the tump line, better, if
the packer be new to the game.

The packing question then resolves itself
into what is the most convenient for any par-
ticular trip, provided the packer is new to any
of the above contrivances. A man who has
always used a packsack will have great diffi-
culty in using a tump line.

" It's not what's the best rig, It's what a
man's used to," is the way a guide summed up
the question.

In a canoe trip in the wilderness of two or
three weeks the complete outfit, including food,
for two men may be carried in two large pack-
sacks. With the exception of a rifle or rod
case, everything, including the axe, will go Into
the two sacks.

On such a trip four of the small duffle bags
and a pack cloth are necessary to transport
the same equipment. The same is true of the
pack harness or the tump line used only with
pack cloths or blankets.

If many portages are to be made, the ques-
tion of loading and unloading is exceedingly
simple with packsacks. At the portage the

114 THE CANOE

two packs are lifted from the canoe, and the
canoe is empty. If one man takes a forty-
pound pack and the canoe, the other can take
a 125-pound pack. Each lifts his burden to
his shoulders and starts. The paddles and rod
cases are in the canoe. The man with the
heavy pack takes the rifle. Except for a pos-
sible sour dough pail, there are no loose ob-
jects to be tied to packs or carried in the hands.
There is no tying or untying. At the end of
the portage the canoe is placed in the water,
the two packs dropped in, and the canoeists
are off.

With the tump line there is the inevitable
tying of the packing contrivance and the ad-
justment of loads at one end of the portage
and the untying and loading of six packs in-
stead of two at the other end. To be sure,
the duffle bags to which the tump line is at-
tached may be placed in the canoe without
untying the straps. But, if all the duffle bags
are tied, it is difficult, sometimes impossible,
to ballast the canoe properly with so large and
cumbersome a bundle.

CMore time is lost on canoe journeys in
loading and unloading at portages than in any
other way. Where many portages are to be
made in a day, hours may be wasted in gath-

PACKING 115

ering the equipment together at each portage.
/with packsacks there is nothing to do but lift
Lout the pack and place it on the back.

Further, a canoe may be carried with a light
packsack. When two men are making a jour-
ney this means only one trip across a portage.
If the portage is a mile long, each man walks
a mile instead of one or both making a return
trip and walking three miles. With a tump
line it is not possible to carry a canoe and a
pack.

Packing duffle in the bags is another impor-
tant feature of the subject. The large, open-
mouthed packsack is easily packed, and it is
large enough to take anything in camp. There
are no small bundles or articles to clutter up
the canoe or burden the hands on the portage.
The grub sack is set up beside the fire, and,
if it is properly packed, dishes and food for
the noonday meal are on top and ready at
hand. The bag does not have to be unpacked
and then packed again.

When a long journey, where supplies are
to be carried for two or three months, is to be
made, the subject of packing differs. Tents,
blankets, and personal duffle carried in pack-
sacks may be easily and quickly taken out each
night and repacked in the morning. A week's

116 THE CANOE

supply of food and the dishes go in another
packsack. But the surplus of food Is carried
better In the small, waterproofed duffle bags,
which may be carried with a tump line or on
top of the packsacks. The packsack, with its
large mouth, cannot be made water-tight,
though It will shed rain all day In the canoe
or on the trail. But the duffle bag excludes
dampness, thereby preserving the food and
preventing an Increase In weight.

As the length of the trip, the number of
men, or women, in the party, the presence or
absence of guides, varies, the adaptability of
the various contrivances differs. If you are
going Into a new country and will use a guide,
learn what method he employs. If he is a
packsack man, and you have provided only
tump lines, your troubles will begin at the first
portage. If you are new to the packing game
you will find the packsack most readily adapt-
able. With both shoulder and head straps,
tyou can distribute the load and carry more
comfortably. With any outfit, remember that
it Is going to hurt, and that all you can do is
to stand it until muscles and philosophy have
become adjusted.

CHAPTER XII

BEDS AND BEDDING

AS each form of out-of-door activity has
/\ its special equipment, the canoe has one
all its own. The man who travels into
the wilderness by pack train, flat boat, auto,
wagon, or launch has only the capacity of his
vehicle or craft to consider. The man who
travels by canoe must consider the capacity of
his own back as well as that of his craft, while
the number of portages and average daily run
necessary to cover a given route in a given
time are deciding factors in a large part of the
equipment.

The man who travels alone on foot, or with
only a saddle horse, must consider weight and
space more than any other traveler in the wil-
derness. Next comes the canoeman, for,
while he may carry half a ton easily in the
canoe, he cannot carry his canoe and that
same half a ton over portages and make prog-
ress or get any particular pleasure out of his
trip.

"7

118 THE CANOE

The man who takes a trip down the Ohio,
Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, or any of
the innumerable smaller rivers in the United
States or in northern Wisconsin, for instance,
where lake after lake may be traversed with-
out a portage can stock up with all the pet
paraphernalia that long winter evenings have
evolved. If he should strike a power dam, an
express wagon will take everything around for
a dollar or two.

But the man who goes Into the north coun-
try, either in northern Minnesota, Maine, or
any of that infinite stretch of canoe land in
Canada, whether it be for two weeks or two
months, must consider carefully everything he
takes. It is a subject upon which volumes and
countless articles have been written, although
for the enthusiastic voyageur the subject never
grows old. It is called " going light but
right," a phrase so elastic that really it is
worthless as a descriptive title. One man
may go " light " and, so far as he Is concerned,
" right." But another would find himself de-
prived of things he considers necessities if he
had the same outfit. One man Is perfectly
willing to make two or three trips on each
portage to transport that which he considers
essential to his happiness, while another gladly

BEDS AND BEDDING 119

goes without things that he and his companions
may " clean up " in one trip across each carry.

" Light but right," despite the manner in
which it has been dinned Into the ears of the
outdoor man, cannot be a matter of hard and
fast rule but of individual choice, taste, and
degree of experience. In fact, so variable is
this much sought perfection in equipment that
it seldom remains the same, even with the
individual. The first time out a man over-
burdens himself, and the second year he flies
to the other extreme. The third time he is
more rational and becomes a crank on equip-
ment. He weighs and measures and changes
things each year until he has an efficient out-
fit. Then he begins to want more comforts,
and the weight increases. If he meets a man
with the Identical equipment he himself had
^wt years before, he jeers at It.

Since hard and fast rules cannot hold
against individual beliefs and wishes, the sub-
ject can be approached properly only from
the bottom. The fundamental principles, the
deciding factors, only can be stated authori-
tatively. The Individual will build upon them
to suit himself. He alone can decide what is
essential to his comfort and to just what ex-
tent he is willing to burden himself that he

120 THE CANOE

may have It. Some men seem to take actual
pleasure In depriving themselves, though In
reality their pleasure comes afterward, when
they relate how little they carried.

These things are essential to anyone on a
canoe trip: Food, cooking utensils, shelter,
bedding, and clothing.

These things are essential if dally journeys
are to be made: Food that will quickly re-
build tissues exhausted by long hours at the
paddle and yet which may be cooked quickly
and easily; cooking utensils which are light,
compact, durable, efficient, and of sufficient
variety to permit changes In menu; a shelter
which Is light, just large enough to protect men
and equipment, and can be easily and quickly
erected; bedding that Is warm but light and
requires little or no care; clothing that pro-
tects from cold, sun, flies, and rain, all In one,
so that a complete change Is not necessary.

You can build up a carload on that, or you
can fill one packsack and yet meet every re-
quirement. You are the one to be suited, the
one to carry the equipment. You have only
yourself to please, only yourself to blame.

Manufacturers and Individuals have devised
infinite pieces of equipment to meet the needs
enumerated above. In this and succeeding

BEDS AND BEDDING 121

chapters the questions of bedding, tents, cloth-
ing, etc., will be considered. Those articles
which have been proven most efficient will be
described. Any opinions stated are based
upon a somewhat varied experience and upon
observation of equipment of nearly every type
of wilderness traveler, from the millionaire
with an expensive outfit to the timber cruiser
or prospector who has spent his life in tents
and canoes.

The nature of the bed must depend largely
upon the nature of the trip. Where there are
no portages, a light mattress or inflatable air
mattress may be carried, while as many quilts
and blankets may be taken as there Is room
for. Only remember that a cotton quilt will
absorb moisture, Is hard to dry, and becomes
very cold and clammy.

But on a trip where there are many port-
ages the bed must be light, although some ca-
noeists insist on taking a sleeping bag. These
contrivances weigh from sixteen to thirty
pounds and have other objections. Some com-
bine blankets, or quilts, a waterproofed cov-
ering, and an air mattress. A man may bur-
den himself with these things and believe he
IS justified in so doing, but experienced woods-
men never use a sleeping bag, or, at least, the

122 THE CANOE

contrivances usually placed on the market.
The objections are these: They are too heavy
for the comfort obtained, the waterproofed
covering keeps all the moisture from the body
within the bag, and the blankets become cold
and damp or must be dried every day, and
there is no benefit in using a waterproofed
bag when sleeping in a tent. To sleep with-
out a tent in mosquito season is torture.

The experienced woodsman uses a single
blanket or a sleeping bag without a water-
proofed covering. Such sleeping bags, made
of llama wool or camel's hair, afford the maxi-
mum warmth for the minimum weight. A
sheet of tanalite or good waterproofed cotton
should be placed under such a bag to prevent
dampness from reaching the sleeper from
below.

A mining engineer who has been in every
part of Canada has chosen such a contrivance
after many years of experimenting. The en-
tire outfit weighs only three and one-half
pounds. It is sufficiently warm for the sum-
mer and early fall. Moisture from the body
escapes readily, leaving the bag dry. In
winter this man places an eiderdown quilt in-
side the camel's hair bag. It brings the total
weight to ten and one-half pounds and is warm

BEDS AND BEDDING 123

enough for most anything south of the Arctic
Circle.

This is the ideal sleeping equipment. The
mattress, of course, is of balsam or spruce
boughs, which, in addition to their romantic
feature, offer the cheapest, easiest, quickest
bed, once a man has learned to make one
properly. The one objection to the above
sleeping bag is the cost. The total for
the complete winter outfit is about fifty
dollars. The summer equipment costs nearly
twenty-five dollars. But it is the only feasible
sleeping bag. Only the novice will take the
heavy, unsanitary clammy affair generally of-
fered for sale.

The man who cannot, or will not, make a
bough bed has the best substitute in an air
mattress. These weigh from nine pounds up.
Be sure to buy one that is quilted. One big
air sack is a difficult thing to sleep on. If the
sleeper moves he slides or rolls off. This mat-
tress can be placed most anywhere and is in-
flated by the lungs.

The common form of bedding is the lone
blanket. The man who cannot afford camel's
hair or llama wool turns to the pure sheep's
wool affair, which, while it is much heavier,
furnishes all the comfort necessary if there is

124 THE CANOE

skill in making the bed. The best camping
blanket Is the Hudson's Bay Company's fa-
mous affair. The four-point weighs twelve
pounds and Is seven and one-half feet long by
six feet wide, doubled. The three and three
and one-half-point blankets are smaller, but
of the same thickness. The three and one-half,
weighing ten pounds. Is the most adaptable
size. Such a blanket should be purchased In
the white or khaki colors. The wool Is un-
scoured and retains the natural animal grease,
thereby being almost waterproof. There Is an
Imitation of this blanket. The genuine bears
the company's seal always.

The out-of-door sleeper soon learns that as
much cold comes from beneath as from above
and the sides. A rubber blanket keeps out
most of this, but a sheet of tanallte or a water-
proofed tent floor better answers the purpose.
For the same reason the bough bed should be
well made and thick.

The novice often has difficulty in making
such a bed, although many books have de-
scribed methods. The boughs are easily gath-
ered by cutting down a balsam and dragging
It to the camp site. There the limbs are
quickly cut off with an axe. The larger
branches are placed on the ground first, with

BEDS AND BEDDING 125

the bow side up. This furnishes the spring.
Then they are thatched with smaller branches,
the process beginning at the head and being
carried to the foot, the soft tops covering the
butts. There is no necessity of making too
long a bed. Enough to keep the hips and
shoulders off the ground is sufficient.

If it is necessary to carry balsam some dis-
tance to the camp site it is most easily done by
" limbing " the tree where it is felled and car-
rying by the woodsman's method. The axe
head is placed on the ground and the branches
hooked around the perpendicular handle. A
man can carry enough for a good bed in one
load.

In a country where there are no balsam or
pine, willow tops, first year's growth, will be
the best substitute.

A good bed is one of the most important
things in camp life, and the canoeist should
study his methods until he attains perfection.
A cold bed, or an uneven one, will not afford
the rest a hard day demands. Even the pillow
should not be shirked, though your companion
may say he is satisfied with his shoes. A cotton
bag weighs nothing, and it may be stuffed each
night with an extra shirt, socks, or sweater.

CHAPTER XIII

TENTS FOR CANOEING

THE canoe tent must be: light, easily
and quickly erected, have enough floor
space for sleeping and for storing the
outfit, and be fly-proof. A large number of
models and mosquito contrivances have been
devised. None of them Is perfect, for the
reason that any such tent is a series of com-
promises. The best can only have the maxi-
mum of advantages with the minimum of
drawbacks.

On a canoe journey the tent is taken down
each morning and set up each night. At the
end of a long day's paddle, when camp is to
be made and a meal cooked, the simplest tent
becomes the best. The tent is used only for
sleeping and protecting the duffle from the
weather. Therefore it need not be large nor
with much head room. For cold or rainy
days In the north country It should be possible
to throw open the front and build a fire in
126

V V *i

TENTS FOB CANOEING 127

the doorway. Camp may be made at the
end of a rainy day; there should be a bottom
or floor of waterproof material.

To meet these requirements the following
tents have been devised: The old, standard
"A," or wedge tent without a wall; the
miner's, or pyramid, tent; the Frazer tent, an
adaptation of the miner's; the baker, or shed,
tent, with a rear wall, straight sides, slanting
roof, and front awning which serves as a
door; the lean-to, which is best for fall when
the flies have gone; the canoe tent, with either
peak or short ridge, which is a combination of
the "A," miner's, and baker; the Hudson
Bay tent, a combination of the miner's and
"A " styles ; and, lastly, an adaptation of the
miner's tent which brings the peak forward
and affords a straight wall in front.

Nearly all of these tents may be set up by
using ridge ropes instead of poles and attach-
ing them to trees. Such a method is generally
unsatisfactory because of the time wasted in
finding trees in the right places and in grub-
bing out between them. In mosquito season
camp should be pitched in the open. A tent
never fits well with a rope ridge, and a badly
fitting tent does not shed water or wind ade-
quately.

128 THE CANOE

If poles are used with any of these tents
according to the old style, they are in the cen-
ter of the floor space or of the door In all
types except the baker and lean-to. By using
an outside ridge pole attached to the ridge by
tapes, the center and door poles may be elimi-
nated, but at the cost of cutting double the
number of poles. With the baker, canoe, and
" straight-front '' miner's tent, guy ropes are
necessary. These require time and are irri-
tating obstructions.

After trying and studying every type and
method of erecting, the writer settled upon the
following as, in his opinion, the most efiiclent
and most quickly erected tent for canoeing
purposes: A miner's tent was ordered with-
out the hole in the peak for the center pole.
Instead, a strong canvas loop was sewed into
the solid peak. The flaps at the front were
made eighteen inches wider, so that they lap
more than three feet when tied. On a rainy
day they may be staked out, a fire built in
front, and cooking done from the shelter of
the flaps. A floor of waterproof duck was
sewn to the bottom of the tent on the sides
and back. The dimensions are seven feet
three inches square by seven feet three inches
high at the peak. The material is light.

TENTS FOR CANOEING 129

waterproof cotton, and the total weight is
fourteen pounds. With a tanalite floor the
weight would be eight or nine pounds and the
tent even more serviceable.

The method in erecting the tent is as fol-
lows: The bed is built on the ground. Two
poles ten feet long are cut with crotched ends.
Seven stakes are required. The tent is
stretched over the bed and staked down.
The crotched poles are inserted in the canvas
loop at the peak, and the tent is up.

Attached to the canvas loop at all times is
a piece of cheesecloth large enough to cover
the entire front of the tent. In mosquito sea-
son this is spread across the door immediately
when the tent is erected, the bottom being
folded in under the floor.

Such a tent has the following features: Its
steep sides shed water perfectly, and its pyra-
mid shape offers no opportunity for the wind
to grasp it. The floor insures a dry tent, no
matter how damp the ground. The bed is
beneath the floor, and there is always a clean,
dry place on which to spread the blankets.
The floor and the cheesecloth keep out all flies,
mosquitoes, midges, snakes, insects, and small,
camp-prowling animals. There is room for
three persons and their equipment. Two per-

130 THE CANOE

sons can stand erect at the same time. The
wide flaps enlarge the tent on a rainy day or
may be staked out perpendicularly on cold
nights and permit a large fire in the door.

The tent has one drawback. On a rainy
night the door, which slants back to the peak,
must be tied. This is of minor importance
when the advantages are considered. The
Frazer tent eliminates this by having an awn-
ing over a narrow door. But this requires
guy ropes or poles, and the small door does
not permit a thorough drying or warming of
the tent by means of a big fire in front. By
increasing the size to nine by nine feet, such
a miner's tent would easily accommodate four
men and their equipment.

When there are four men in a party, how-
ever, the question of speed and ease in erect-
ing the shelter is of less importance than where
there are two. It is then that a good baker
tent becomes adequate. More poles are re-
quired, but there are more men and axes to
cut them. Such a tent is exceptionally good for
wet or cold weather, while in mosquito sea-
son cheesecloth stretched across the front, and
with a taped slit in the center, keeps out the
flies. For a comparatively small weight in
shelter, many men can sleep in a baker tent.

TENTS FOR CANOEING 131

The other styles find their adherents for
various reasons — more head room, more floor
space, accustomed use, etc.

The day of the canvas tent for canoeing is
long past. Several varieties of light-weight,
waterproofed cotton are on the market. A
khaki or green color is better than the white,
being less attractive to flies and softening the
glare of the sun. Tanalite has the advantage
of not leaking even if it should fall down.
This feature permits the storing of duffle
against the walls. The material selected
should not only shed water but should not
absorb moisture. Then its weight is not in-
creased if packed on a rainy morning.

A floor sewed to the edges of the tent gives
the best protection from dampness, draughts,
and insects and is the most efficient and easily
handled form of floor cloth. Many canoeists
use a separate piece of waterproof duck,
which is spread out in the tent on top of the
sod cloth, or inside flap sewed to the edges of
the tent. This Is not absolutely Insect proof
and forms a separate article. The last is an
advantage, however, when the floor cloth Is
used for packing with a tump line.

Mosquito netting or bobbinet are not ade-
quate insect excluders in the north country,

132 THE CANOE

though farther south they are sufficient.
Cheesecloth Is, and It permits a free circula-
tion of air. Some use a secondary tent of
cheesecloth suspended Inside the tent. This
only adds to the trouble of getting In shape
for the night and Is not so efficient as the
cheesecloth door tucked under the tent floor.
Still another system Is a door of cheesecloth
sewed In all around, entrance being through
an opening In the center closed with a pucker-
ing string. The disadvantage In this lies In
the fact that the tent cannot be thrown open
to a fire In cold or rainy weather.

In deciding on your tent, don't aim for any
single advantage. Weigh everything, con-
sider every possible contingency, the values
and defects of every device. Don't seek the
perfect tent, for It does not exist. The nearly
perfect tent Is the most efficient compromise.

CHAPTER XIV

COOKING UTENSILS, COOKING, AND FOODS

MODERN equipment has made it pos-
sible for the canoeist, with a mini-
mum of weight and bulk In his cull-
nary outfit, to obtain the maximum results,
always provided, of course, that he knows how
to handle It.

For a party of two, the following list com-
prises every article necessary for the prepara-
tion of as good a meal as may be desired:
Three kettles, one frying pan, one mixing
pan, one folding baker, three plates, three
cups, a mixing spoon, and two knives, forks,
and table spoons. Nothing else Is necessary
for the proper preparation and service of a
meal.

An aluminum alloy has been used to make
the best type of cooking utensil. Stamped
from one piece of non-corroding, tough, long-
lived metal, the aluminum kettles are as near
perfection as possible. The only objection to

133

134 THE CANOE

them, that advanced by users of packsacks, is
that the shape is not adaptable to their method
of packing. The same model of cooking uten-
sils is made of pressed steel. It is only slightly
heavier than the aluminum and costs less than
half as much.

These kettles are round and are made to
nest and fit in duffle bags. An oval nesting
kettle is in universal use among cruisers in
northern Minnesota. The three or four pails
are light and easily packed in a packsack.
They are not, however, stamped from one
piece.

Aluminum frying pans were discarded
immediately, and those of steel substituted.
To permit nesting with the aluminum kettles
and dishes, these pans have been made with
several varieties of detachable or folding
handles. All are intended for use with a stick.
With such an outfit all the kettles, pans, frying
pan, plates, cups, knives, forks, and spoons
may be nested compactly and carried in one
canvas bag. With the oval cruising pails for
the Middle West the frying pan is made with
a two-inch handle to which a square loop of
steel is attached to permit the insertion of a
wooden handle.

It must be remembered in choosing any

COOKING UTENSILS 135

cooking or packing utensil that tin rusts, that
fruit strong in acids should never be kept in
tin kettles or push-top tins and, preferably,
even not cooked in them. Sour dough, if kept
in a tin receptacle, causes much rust. A gran-
iteware or aluminum pail is best.

Aluminum cups, because of the rapid man-
ner in which the metal conducts heat, are Im-
possible. Many do not like aluminum plates
for the same reason. Weight may be saved
by having the mixing pan of aluminum. So-
called " white metal " forks, or those of alum-
inum, are best. Aluminum spoons are strong
and light, while the old steel case knife Is
sufficient.

Bakers are made of tin and aluminum. The
aluminum bends out of shape easily, but Is a
little lighter. The baker whose sides form a
peak at the rear is of too obtuse an angle to
do good work and will not brown bread or
cake on top. There should be a perpendicular
wall of two or three Inches behind. The tin
baker Is little heavier and more easily set up
and taken down. With either, the reflecting
surface should be kept bright. One with a
nine by twelve Inch pan Is large enough for
three or four persons.

With thes^ utensils to choose from, the

136 THE CANOE

canoeist may obtain a light, durable, efficient
outfit. If the cost is a factor, he may buy the
cheaper equipment of tin, pick up an aluminum
mixing pan and spoons and graniteware, tin
or aluminum plates at a department store sale
and purchase a twenty-five-cent frying pan and
have the hardware man cut off the handle and
attach a square loop for a stick. All should
be packed in one or two canvas bags to keep
the black kettles and pans from other duffle
in the pack.

All food should be carried in muslin or light
duck bags. These can be purchased, ready
waterproofed, as cheaply as they can be made.
The waterproofing does not insure dry food,
but it keeps out dirt and does not absorb mois-
ture. There should be an assortment of small
push-top tins for pepper, matches, spices, soda,
and baking powder, and larger ones for tea,
coffee, and bacon grease.

Add an axe to the tent, blankets and cook-
ing utensils, and the canoeist's equipment is
complete, with the exception of his personal
outfit, treated in the next chapter. The axe.
In summer, need be only a half or quarter
axe with twenty or twenty-four-Inch handle.
Never take the toy hatchet offered for sale.
A leather sheath permits placing the axe in a

COOKING UTENSILS 137

pack. If the axe is packed in the food pack
each morning, it is out of the way except when
needed and will not be lost. In fall a full
axe should be carried, as the large amount of
wood required makes the hand axe inadequate.
A necessary accessory is a file for sharpening
the axe and a whetstone or oil stone for
sharpening both axe and knives.

The question of camping food is limitless.
The canoeist making an easy journey in a civ-
ilized country need have no anxiety, as he can
transport nearly everything he wishes. The
man going far from a base of supplies must
look carefully over his food list, and he will
check it off and study it for several years be-
fore he arrives at his ideal supply.

The party taking a trip of two or three
weeks may carry several things in the line of
luxuries, especially if each member be an able
packer. When a trip of one or two months is
to be made, and supplies for the entire trip
are to be carried, only the essentials are pos-
sible.

The woodsman, born and brought up in the
wilderness, requires much more food than the
man who goes to the forest only for recrea-
tion. The woodsman eats more than is neces-
sary, but he is a peculiar individual and wants

138 THE CANOE

all that he eats. He won't work without it.
The city man, accustomed to light breakfast
and luncheon and sedentary habits, is suddenly
confronted with violent physical exercise and a
greatly increased appetite when he goes into
the woods. He thinks he eats a great deal,
but he does not, in comparison with the woods-
man.

A prospector who has spent a lifetime in
Ontario and other parts of Canada has a list
which he has proven many times. He counts
on the following for men who work for him:
One pound of flour, one pound of bacon, one-
third pound of dried fruit, and one-third
pound of beans per man per day. Rice, sugar,
tea, salt, salt pork for beans, butter, and
canned milk bring the total per man per day
to more than three and one-half pounds. He
does not like to bother with butter, but is
compelled to take it to keep the men in good
humor.

Such a ration would last a city man two days
and probably three. The reason for citing it
here is to give the city man an idea of how
he must prepare for the appetite of a guide.

Many books and articles have been written
on the subject of food, and tables have been
formed. But individual taste and preference

COOKING UTENSILS 139

is so great a factor that lists are of little value
except to furnish ideas and for checking. Let
the canoeist remember these facts and then
build up his list of supplies accordingly:

Four, beans, rice, sugar, and fats are neces-
sary to produce muscle and energy.

Dried fruits are necessary to tone the sys-
tem and offer variety in a plain fare.

A preponderance of fats is injurious in
warm weather.

The great drain on energy results in a crav-
ing for much sugar.

Cornmeal should be eaten sparingly in
summer. It is an excellent fall or winter
food.

Butter, though a good food, is a habit, and
its absence will be forgotten in a few days.
To carry it is a nuisance.

It is well to carry one luxury. For some
this is evaporated milk, for others jam or
conserves. Let the individual decide what it
shall be and then carry it.

The question of cooking food is so closely
linked with the question of food that they
should be considered simultaneously. A good
cook can prepare appetizing, nourishing, ade-
quate meals from the dozen or so essential
raw materials. If there k 3uch a cook in a

140 THE CANOE

party, both weight and bulk may be greatly
reduced. Kephart condensed the entire sub-
ject of out-of-door food and cooking into one
sentence — " The less a man carries in his pack,
the more he must carry in his head.'*' *

The good cook will know the following and
also know how to meet each problem:

The three principal kinds of foods are car-
bohydrates, fats, and proteins. The first two
produce heat and energy, the last forms gas,
water, and waste material.

Proteins remain in the stomach twice as
long as carbohydrates, and fats even longer.

Proteins and fats are, as a rule, easily and
quickly cooked. Carbohydrates are not avail-
able as foods until broken down by thorough
cooking.

This sounds uninteresting and scientific, but
it is the essential foundation of eflicient cook-
ing and eating in the wilderness. Proteins,
which remain in the stomach longer, should
be served at the morning and noon meals, to
prevent an empty stomach and an *' all-in "
feeling before the next meal. Carbohydrates
produce the necessary energy and heat, but
they do not " stay with you." Further, they

*Camp Cookery, Outing Hand Book No. 2.

COOKING UTENSILS 141

require much cooking. Therefore, the wise
cook will:

Serve pancakes and bacon for breakfast
they will remain long in the stomach, and also
a well cooked cereal, because it is a strength
giver.

Serve well cooked beans, baked or boiled,
at noon. They have a large percentage of
carbohydrates and in addition are nearly one-
fourth protein. Biscuits, baked at breakfast,
or sour dough bread, and sauce, complete a
well balanced noon-day meal.

Serve rice with sugar and cream at night.
This is a valuable food and easily digested. It
leaves the stomach quickly, and the man unac-
customed to heavy eating as well as heavy
exercise gives his stomach as well as his mus-
cles a rest when he goes to bed. Rice served
alone at noon is not enough. It furnishes
sufficient food value, but it is digested so
quickly a man cannot work well until the next
meal.

The above is intended as a skeleton idea.
Around the framework of slowly digesting but
nourishing meals morning and noon and nour-
ishing but easily digested meals at night, the
good cook may build an infinite variation. He
must also remember that apricots are essential

142 THE CANOE

the first few days, as well as a few raw onions,
to keep the suddenly overtaxed system in
order. He will know that raisins are excep-
tional as they do not have to be cooked to
make them available as a food. So quick is
their action they really are a non-injurious
stimulant.

A little forethought in planning and prepar-
ing is a great aid in obtaining quick and ade-
quate meals. The cook should study his map
closely. If he has a day with no portages be-
fore him, he may spend the preceding evening
in the preparation of several things that can be
easily carried in the canoe, but which would
be a nuisance on a portage.

Sour dough may be carried in a pail or
push-top tin. By mixing in additional flour
each night, the breakfast pancakes are easily
provided for, and the harmful baking powder
is eliminated. Sour dough bread may be
raised over night and baked at breakfast
time.

Cookies may be baked in the baker after
supper, or during the preparation of the even-
ing meal, and carried in a large push-top tin.
If there are no portages the next day, a pie
made the night previous will reach the noon
lunch unharmed. Sour dough bread or bak-

COOKING UTENSILS 143

ing powder biscuits should always be baked in
the morning for the noon-day meal.

Beans, if baked in a bean hole over night,
or boiled after supper until soft, can be carried
in a push-top tin. They insure an efficient
meal the next noon. If there are no portages
In the afternoon, sauce may be boiled at noon
for the evening meal.

CHAPTER XV

CLOTHING

MEN from cities who have gone Into
the wilderness because their business
took them there, and kept them
there year after year — mining engineers, rail-
road engineers, explorers, and geological sur-
vey members — Invariably admit that the na-
tive knows best how to dress and to live In
his particular section, and that the outsider
has less trouble If he adopts local methods.

Such men go Into the wilderness to work,
and not for recreation. Their work consumes
most of their time, and they demand, and get,
efficiency In equipment. Once they have
proven the worth of a thing, they stick to it,
unless their work takes them into an entirely
different sort of country.

The recreatlonlst, because of less experi-
ence and greater enthusiasm. Is prone to go to
extremes In the matter of tents, sleeping equip-
ment and personal duffle. Until years of ex-
perience have brought wisdom, he is Inclined
144

CLOTHING 145

to burden himself, or others, with useless para-
phernalia, or articles which are carried for a
month and used only once or twice.

Outfitters have developed some wonderful
bits of equipment, and, when the cost is a
lesser object, the canoeist planning a trip in
any district cannot do better than to seek the
advice and obtain the goods of an efficient
firm. He should be cautious, however, to
seek a really good outfitter and to get the
advice of an experienced man rather than that
of a clerk who never has demonstrated the
value of anything he sells. When they can
be aflforded, aluminum kettles and pans, im-
ported woolens for clothing, the best in foot-
wear, and light, compact medicine chests,
toilet kits, and shaving outfits are valuable
not only for their lightness and compactness
but for their durability and all-around effi-
ciency.

The man who has less money to spend can
enjoy himself just as thoroughly and travel
just as efficiently if he studies the methods of
the people who live in the land he will visit
and gets most of his equipment there. Such a
method should be founded, however, upon
personal experience and observation or upon
first hand advice.

146 THE CANOE

The matter of dress and personal equip-
ment is one of the most important the canoe-
ist has to consider, and one open to nearly
as many interpretations as there are canoeists.
Between personal whim and outfitters' ideas,
the touring canoeman presents a strange med-
ley in attire, from the sleeveless rowing shirt
of the college boy to the elaborate patented
articles of his father. Their wide divergence
in methods of dress is particularly noticeable
when contrasted with that of the woodsman,
which is universally the same.

On the Mississippi, Ohio, and eastern rivers
where days and nights are warm, portages are
absent, and the capacity of the canoe alone
limits the equipment, personal wishes can dic-
tate the clothing to be worn and carried with-
out uncomfortable results. A trip through the
north country demands protection from flies,
cold days and nights, rain and thick brush.
Experts are unanimous in declaring that only
wool should be worn. The woodsman wears
only wool, unless he is living in a permanent
camp during hot weather, when he dons a cot-
ton shirt and overalls or khaki trousers.

But if a given route is to be covered in a
given time, and each day spent in the canoe,
rain or shine, the woodsman wears woolen

CLOTHING 147

underwear, a woolen shirt, woolen trousers,
and heavy woolen socks. Many men who live
and work in the north country wear the same
heavy weight of underwear the year round.

Some men will not wear wool next to the
skin and depend upon waterproofed garments
for protection. One can learn to wear wool
comfortably, however, and the slight discom-
fort of the first few days will be more than
compensated for later.

With woolen clothes, mosquitoes cannot
bite except on the hands, face, and neck. A
man can portage, or paddle, all day in the
rain and, even though he finally may be wet
through, will still be warm as long as he has
wool next to the skin and keeps at work.
When he has finished the day's toil, he can
build a fire and dry out. The man who does
not change from wet to dry clothes rarely
catches cold when he wears wool.

Woolen clothing, if of a good quality, will
shed rain for many hours. When portaging
on a brushy trail, the moisture will beat
through, but under such conditions nothing
except rubber is a protection. Heavy socks
are desirable because they keep the feet from
being chilled when wet. Even the best of
shoes will not always keep the feet dry.

148 THE CANOE

The greatest objection to waterproofed cot-
ton garments Is that they are seldom, If ever,
waterproof, and that, when once wet, they are
cold, clammy, heavy, and difficult to dry.
Light weight oil slickers, or coats which reach
nearly to the knees, give excellent protection
from the rain, but they cannot be worn on a
portage or the wearer will be as wet from
perspiration as he would have been from the
rain. Even when paddling, they will be found
uncomfortably warm, unless the day be very
cold. If the canoeist is willing to carry the
extra pound or two, and the extra article, he
will find an oilskin coat valuable In camp on
a rainy day, but hardly anywhere else.

The river driver of Michigan, Wisconsin,
and Minnesota has spent more than fifty years
living under conditions more adverse to com-
fort than the canoeist ever encounters, and his
clothes are always of wool. He starts to
work when the Ice goes out, and is out in the
rain, snow, sleet, and wind, sometimes up to
his waist in water, from daylight until after
dark. His feet are always wet. Yet his out-
fit consists, almost without variation, of the
following: A heavy suit of underwear, heavy
woolen trousers cut off below the knees, heavy
woolen socks, heavy woolen shirt, and driving

CLOTHING 149

shoes. Even though wet through, he keeps
warm when working, and at night there is a
big campfire beside which he dries out. When
tired out, he goes to sleep in his wet clothes.

The canoeist journeying in the north coun-
try cannot do better than to adopt a similar
costume. The ideal equipment in a country
where frosts come in early August and it may
snow in the first two weeks of June is as fol-
lows:

One suit of light woolen underwear to be
worn every day.

One suit of medium or heavy woolen under-
wear to be used for sleeping, a change when
the other suit is being washed, or for excep-
tionally cold weather.

One pair of light woolen trousers. These
should be of hard finish so as not to catch
brush and should be woven sufiiciently well
and closely to prevent tearing on snags.
Kersey and light macklnaw are the best.

One light woolen shirt, gray or tan. One
is enough. It can be washed on a bright day
and dried en route, the wearer paddling in his
undershirt alone.

Three pairs of heavy woolen socks. This
gives a dry pair for sleeping and a dry pair
each morning.

150 THE CANOE

One heavy stag shirt. This Is a lumber-
jack's garment and one that only in the last
year or two has been recognized by a few out-
of-door enthusiasts as a valuable piece of per-
sonal equipment. The lumberjack and river
driver " stags " his trousers by cutting them
off with a jackknife below the knees. He
found a coat too heavy and cumbersome to
work in, so he bought a heavy shirt and
"stagged" It by cutting It off around the
middle of the hips. Later manufacturers
learned this and placed the stag shirt on the
market.

The lumberjack has been wearing it for
years. It Is made of heavy wool, generally
about thirty-six ounces to the yard. The pat-
tern Is the same as that of a " top " shirt,
except that there are no skirts, or tails. It
affords nearly as much warmth and protection
as a coat and yet fits so snugly, and Is so
light that it may be worn without Interfering
with the free use of the arms and body. This
shirt is now being manufactured for sports-
men with several pockets sewn around the
bottom. Some are made with a puckering
string, giving the shirt the appearance of a
boy's blouse. The plain, unpocketed shirt Is
best, as it will not catch on snags or brush.

With such an equipment the canoeist is pre-

CLOTHING 151

pared for any sort of weather down to zero.
In fact, the lumberjack wears such an outfit
all winter. It may prove warm on a portage
through a breezeless swamp, but the portager
would perspire as freely if he wore nothing
except light cotton, and he is saved a chill
when he leaves the hot swamp for a wind-
swept lake.

With this equipment the only extra pieces
of clothing to be carried are the heavy under-
wear, two pair of socks, and the stag shirt.
Many carry a sweater, but the stag shirt serves
every purpose of such a garment and has the
additional advantages of shedding rain and
being windproof. The stag shirt is an excel-
lent pad beneath the canoe yoke or paddles.

It is taken for granted that every article of
clothing described will be of pure wool. The
wearer should carry a bar of naphtha soap for
laundering. With it he can wash wool in cold
water.

In the fall a pair of heavy woolen gloves
should be worn.

The question of footwear has so many
angles that it is difficult to give definite rules.
Many canoeists wear the so-called hunting
boots and carry canoe moccasins. This means
an extra article to carry and care for and loss
of time in the changes at each end of a port-

152 THE CANOE

age. If one can stand the single piece of
leather for a sole, the best footwear for ca-
noeing IS the shoepack of Maine and Canada.
Well made, It Is waterproof, easy as a moc-
casin on the foot, and, with the usual canoeist,
adaptable for both canoe and portage. Some
men cannot, however, wear a shoe without a
sole on rough ground. A shoepack Is made
with an extra sole, which affords better pro-
tection from rocks and roots, but Is more
liable to leak.

In purchasing a shoepack the canoeist
should see that the sewing is sunk below the
surface of the leather. Otherwise, the thread
will be cut. On a trip of more than a month,
he should be provided with waxed thread for
repairs and a small can of dubbin, or grease,
for softening the leather and keeping It water-
proof.

Many woodsmen wear a shoe, usually hob-
nailed, exclusively. This may prove hard on
the canoe, especially If any natural awkward-
ness forces a heavy descent every time the
wearer embarks. However, If the canoeist
can stand the single sole and does not Intend
to travel through rough and rocky country, he
will find the shoepack the best article of foot-
wear possible.

CLOTHING 153

The low moccasin, without protection
around the ankle, is only a useless bit of
equipment, serving no purpose that compen-
sates for Its cost or transportation.

As a guide or example of the possibilities
of cheap but adequate canoeing equipment,
and not as a model, the following description
of the author's outfit for two persons Is given :

Two large packsacks, one for food and
dishes, the other for tent, blankets, and per-
sonal duffle. If the trip is to be for more
than two weeks, a third and smaller packsack
Is taken.

A miner's tent as described In a previous
chapter.

One four-point Hudson's Bay blanket
weighing twelve pounds and one lighter wool
blanket weighing ^Yt pounds.

One towel, one cake of soap, comb, brush,
and shaving outfit for each person, and small
medicine chest, camera, water-tight box for
films, and small package of needles and
thread.

Extra suit of woolen underwear for sleep-
ing and change, two extra pairs of woolen
socks, one stag shirt of heavy wool per person.

Three nesting oval kettles of tin, tin fold-
ing baker, tin cups, aluminum spoons, " white

154 THE CANOE

metal " forks, steel case knives, and large
aluminum mixing spoon. The pails and cups
nest and are packed in a canvas bag. The
spoons, knives, and forks are carried in a
pocketed roll of canvas. This is spread and
tacked to a tree, with wooden pegs, beside the
campfire each night.

An aluminum mixing pan, a twenty-five-cent
frying pan with the handle cut off and a steel
loop attached, and graniteware plates are
packed in a second canvas bag.

All food is carried in waterproofed cotton
bags. Several small push-top tins carry tea,
coffee, bacon grease, pepper, soda, baking
powder, and matches. A large push-top tin is
used to carry cookies, sauce, beans, or pea
soup prepared the night before. A small
graniteware pail, carried in the hand, holds
sour dough.

An axe, a file, canoe cement, a trolling line
wedged in the bow of the canoe — that is all.
With a sixty-five-pound canoe, complete equip-
ment and food for two weeks, the total weight,
canoe and all, is only 210 pounds. The outfit
has seen hard service for three years, some of
it having been in constant use for eighteen
months.

CHAPTER XVI

MAKING CAMP: ADVANTAGES OF SYSTEM

IF a canoeing party be wise, much time will
be spent in the first few days studying and
devising a system and plan of co-opera-
tion In making and breaking camp, in prepar-
ing the noon-day lunch, and In portaging.
Whether the trip be one of Idle drifting, each
morning bringing the first plan for the day's
journey; whether the route be down a river
In the midst of civilization, a systematic divi-
sion of labor, a just assignment of duties, and
enforcement of their proper performance are
essential for the greatest progress or enjoy-
ment.

System means more leisure if the trip be of
the non-objective, Indian variety; more time
for fishing, for excursions back from the
water, for photographing, and for simply
doing nothing. On a hard journey, where
every available minute is spent in putting dls-
155

156 THE CANOE

tance behind, system not only tends to com-
fort and ease but is an essential factor in
speed.

Whether there be two, three, four, or eight
in a party, there is no reason why supper
should not be ready three-quarters of an hour
after the canoes touch shore. In the morning,
with the same number, camp should be broken
an hour after the campfire is started. The
preparation of the noon-day meal should not
take more than fifteen or twenty minutes, leav-
ing a half-hour for rest before the resumption
of the journey. Speed in loading and unload-
ing at portages, in each quickly starting v/ith
his pack or canoe, means many miles added
to the day's total.

System gives the same advantage to the
party making the leisurely journey. If camp
is to be broken In the morning, the more time
there will be for exploring, taking pictures of
beautiful spots, or any of the other activities
various members of the party may desire. If
camp is to be maintained In one place for sev-
eral days, a quick breakfast and dishwashing
mean more leisure for everyone.

No party starting on a canoe journey will
achieve perfection In its sytsem for several
days. The members must master unaccus-

MAKING CAMP 157

tomed tasks, wear the rust and clumsiness
from their bodies, revive little knacks In doing
things, and ascertain to which individual cer-
tain tasks should be assigned because of par-
ticular proficiency. Once this has been defi-
nitely settled, things will move orderly and
smoothly, It being taken for granted, of course,
that there are no shirks.

Much time may be saved and trouble
avoided by a systematic packing of whatever
contrivance Is used for carrying food. If the
journey be short, and there Is only one small
bag for each article of food, those which are
seldom used should be placed at the bottom.
Especially In packing In the morning should
care be taken and the packsack or duffle bag
so arranged that everything necessary for the
midday meal Is at the top and may be taken
out without a search through the entire bag to
find the wanted article In the bottom.

As the canoeist may learn much from watch-
ing the woodsman, he may also greatly In-
crease his knowledge, and add to his comfort
and safety, if he watches the Indians. The
red man always camps In a good spot and
rarely, if ever, sets up his tepee near large
timber. He always picks an exposed point In
early summer and a thicket In the fall. The

158 THE CANOE

white man can do no better than follow th^
Indian's example. ^S

Tall timber is dangerous, especially in mid-"*
summer, when the strongest winds prevail. A
cleared point, with exposure to the breeze on
all sides, is the best camping spot when flies
are thick. Islands frequently afford ideal
spots of this nature, but camping on islands
is hardly advisable. A drifting canoe, a spell
of bad weather, and heavy winds, may hold
the canoeist a prisoner, with possibly disas-
trous results.

The forest traveler should study the
weather and not seek! the exposed point
when a heavy wind or rain storm is threat-
ening. Then the shelter of small poplar or
birch, even with the mosquitoes present, is
preferable.

Later in the year, when the flies have
thinned and the evenings are cool, spruce or
poplar thickets afford the best camping spots.
These are generally found back of sand
beaches, and it is seldom necessary that brush
must be cleared or roots and stumps grubbed
out.

When camping near a sand beach the tent
should be set well back from the sand, how-
ever. To camp on the sand, or even to stop

MAKING CAMP 159

a beach for lunch, generally results in sand

tting into the clothing, blankets, packs, and
lood bags.

Prevailing winds should be studied and
guarded against. In many districts south and
west winds generally bring rain in summer,
and quick squalls invariably come from these
directions. An east wind sometimes brings a
steady rain. For this reason it is advisable
to face a tent toward the north or northeast,
that storms coming up in the night will not
blow down a tent before it can be closed.

Never leave a tent with the flaps untied.
Any good tent will live through a gale if
properly erected and tightly closed. Permit-
ting the wind to enter may easily result in the
shelter being torn to shreds or blown down and
damaged beyond repair.

When canoeing in the fall a dense thicket
generally offers protection from any direction.
Care should be taken, however, that no pine
or poplar stubs are near the tent.

One of the advantages of the systematic
operation of the camp will be the proper care
of everything each night. If the tent is not
large enough for the duffle, the food bags
should be placed on a raised spot or logs and
covered with a tarpaulin or placed under the

160 THE CANOE

canoe. If the canoe is not used for this pur-
pose, It should be carried up from the water
each night, turned over and weighted down
with stones or a heavy piece of driftwood. A
sudden storm In the night cannot blow It Into
the water or break It by blowing It against
rocks or trees.

No matter what the weather, it is an excel-
lent rule to take good care of the canoes each
night. If rabbits are numerous, the canoes
should be left right side up and the paddles
placed Inside. Rabbits will gnaw varnished
wood or that salted by perspiration. In any
case, paddles should always be laid inside the
canoes. Left on the beach or on rocks, they
may be stepped on and broken. If not broken,
they win be scratched and marred by rocks
and become a source of Irritation to the hands.

If a trip Is to be made on the Ohio or
Mississippi rivers, canoes should always be
carried far enough from the bank to prevent
their being touched by the wash from big
river steamboats. Some small rivers rise and
fall quickly from natural causes, and others
may do the same because of the opening or
closing of a dam. Special care as to the stow-
ing of canoes and selection of camp sites
should be exercised on such streams. They

MAKING CAMP 161

are indicated by fresh high-water marks,
driftwood, and mud flats.

In the late summer many streams are so
low they are difficult to navigate, even by
canoe. In choosing a route by map, beware
of those rivers shown In a thin, crooked line.

In the late summer or early fall, when the
days are shorter and there is pressing need
for many hours of travel dally, It Is often
possible to make a late camp by counting on
the possibility of sleeping without shelter. If
the canoeist be a good judge W weather, he
can foretell a clear night, and a bow bed, with
the tent drawn over the sleepers to keep off
the dew or frost. Is all the preparation neces-
sary. In doing this It Is better to eat supper
at five or six o'clock and then travel as long
as daylight lasts. The paddlers will find them,
selves as comfortable beneath the stars as they
would have been Inside a tent.

To the novice all these things come slowly,
unless he be so fortunate as to have compan-
ions of great experience, possesses keen obser-
vation, or has that natural aptitude for the
out of doors with which some men are gifted.
Those who seek the pleasures afforded by the
canoe and the Infinite waterways of this con-
tinent without guide or experience have a

162 THE CANOE

great reward in the exercise of ingenuity, the
overcoming of obstacles, in developing a cre-
ative instinct. Those who have had experi-
ence, no matter how much, will always learn
something new, can always anticipate the un-
usual. For the canoe, though the oldest craft
in America, has inexhaustible possibilities for
those who know it and have come to respect it.

THE END

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